Life is Cold
by Onomatopoeiafloon
Summary: FINISHED! 12 years old and he saw his parents dead, and lost most of his childhood memories the same day. Now he's back in town 3 years later, co-owning a Night Club and working his way up through a tough gang. Then he saw HER, and everything changed. 3/4
1. The Day Everything Fell Apart

_When Wally was 12 he found his parents brutally murdered. He was decomissioned from the KND the same day. Three years later he's back in Cleveland, co-owning one of the most happenin' places in town...and out to lead the baddest gang to ever haunt Cleveland's alleys. But when this bad-boy meets a familiar face on the dance floor he finds himself head-over heels. 3/4_

_Disclaimer;_

_I own nothing. But the plot, don't steal it._

_**So I can't get enough of this couple now, this is a bit ridiculous.**_

_**Starting yet another fanfiction, taking place in their teen years.**_

_**In this version Kuki is part of the TND.**_

_**Wally is not. **_

_**Read the rest and figure it all out. Huzzah! **_

_**The ages won't be exact with the show, don't flame me for that okay, I'm doing my best.**_

_**WARNING;**_

_**This is rated T for violence**_

_**Language**_

_**and Drugs and Alcohol**_

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_Chapter One- The Day Everything Fell Apart_

Wallabee Beetles wasn't an unhappy kid. At all. He had good friends, who wouldn't, working as a Kids Next Door operative? He got to kick the crud out of anybody who threatened him, especially cranky adults. He had a good family. In the future, what little he would remember of those days would be regarded with a jealousy towards his younger self. They were good times.

Wally wasn't known for smart decisions. In fact he was probably the dumbest person on his team. He was AMAZING at fighting battles though, his skills in hand-to-hand combat were nearly unmatched. He had great instincts. It was what made him know instantly that something was wrong.

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"You going home then?" Wally's friend of nearly five years said, glancing down at him. (Curse his small stature!) His name was Hoagie Gilligan, though Wally usually called him Numbuh Two, for obvious reasons. He was part of the Kids Next Door. Wally shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah was goin' ta the arcade but..." He shrugged. Hoagie put on a look of slight sympathy. Wally had been grounded because he 'accidentally' broke one of Joey's toys. Accidentally as in he got a little too grumpy at it and tossed it at the wall. Still, the young boy couldn't get out of this one. KND operative or not. "See ya later!"

"Yeah, see you!" Hoagie called after him.

Wally couldn't say that he wasn't mad about not being able to go to the arcade. There was supposedly some really awesome new game that involved smashing things. He was pretty good at smashing things. The young boy hunched over, something he did when he was mad without realizing it. It only served to make him smaller, but he hardly noticed since someone would have to be missing half their brain to call him a shrimp.

With a melancholy look plastered on his face he pushed the gate open. He didn't live in a very impressive part of town, it was right where the clean buildings ended and the factories started. He didn't mind it though, it was home. The gate creaked open and...it kind of echoed around the yard a bit. That...bothered him. Wally narrowed his green eyes and looked down the cracked sidewalk that led to his house.

He wasn't smart, but he could fight the best of them. The kid knew how to follow his gut, and right now his gut was screaming at him that something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Wally crossed the yard and reached out to open the door...only he didn't have to since it was ajar. Something like worry twisted around his stomach.

"Mum? Dad?" Wally asked, his parents worked a lot but they wouldn't leave the door open if nobody was home. Plus the car was in the yard. Oh yeah! The car, why was that there if his parents were at work? Joey was crying somewhere in the house too, little choked sobs. "Mum?"

Only Joey's cries.

Wally shut the door behind him even though everything was screaming in his head not to. Alarm bells were going off in his mind, telling him to turn around and get an authority figure. Wally ran upstairs, because it felt like the normal thing to do, and went into Joey's room. It smelled AWFUL. Like poo, somebody hadn't changed the guy in hours. Wally scooped his brother up, it didn't matter how bad the kid smelled to him at the moment he just wanted him to stop crying.

It worked a bit, Joey's sniffles died down and he buried his little face in Wally's neck. Wally stood there for a moment, cradling his kid brother and wrestling with every instinct he had. The twelve year old pushed himself into the hallway and peered down it. Somebody...somebody was lying down at the end of it.

_Don't go down there._ Some part of him screamed, _Turn around, and go get help. Get the guys. Just don't go back there alone because you know you can't handle what is there._

Only later did he realize that he knew, probably from the moment that he opened the gate, what had happened. He knew it from then because the car was still in the drive and the door was open and everything was quiet except for Joey. Wally inched along the hallway, and peered down at his mother's still body.

He didn't know why, but he didn't have to touch her to know. (Apparently he didn't even need to see it.) It was enough that she was lying like that, it was enough that there was a little hole in her back, and that blood was everywhere. He still DID though, even though he was stupid and young and had no idea how to make sure somebody was alive or dead he still touched her. He put Joey down and turned her over and realized about halfway through it all he was screaming.

Joey was crying again, and Wally jerked back into reality somewhere along then. No, it wasn't reality. It was more like a numb inbetween place. He was aware of the things he was doing, but he wasn't putting any feeling behind them. He turned his mother back over because...he didn't want to look at her eyes anymore. On an inkling he looked into their bedroom, and then turned and fled. He almost forgot Joey.

He picked Joey up and scrambled into the boys room. He didn't know what he was doing, or why. Just that he wanted him and Joey out of the house NOW. Because somebody had come along and killed his parents. He didn't know why, he just knew that it was done. That his mom and dad were dead. Part of him was trembling with fear, were they still here? The other part was busy screaming at him.

_Are you heartless? Why aren't you crying! Why aren't you screaming anymore, or feeling angry and wanting to kill the guys who killed them? Your parents are dead boy, and you haven't shed a single tear. _It was a surreal few minutes, where he grabbed for a bag and shoved some of his jeans and hoodies inside, and scrambled for diapers too. And bottles. What else did babies need? He didn't know, Numbuh Three did that kind of stuff!

His friends...he'd go there. That'd be safe right? Wally picked the bag up in one arm and smelly Joey in the other and hauled it out of the front door. What were you supposed to do when you found somebody dead? Did it count if they were your parents? Wally just wanted to...

It hit him in the middle of the street, where he fell down and got Joey all scraped up and just started to cry. He had wanted to before, and now he just lay there in the middle of the road ready to become roadkill and crying his eyes out like a baby. Joey was crying too. It must have been a long time before he got up, he was still crying, he was still confused. He was going on the oldest instinct the human body has.

Flight.

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He was curled up in some kind of half-pipe. He hadn't called the cops. He hadn't called a hospital. Or any adults. He hadn't even gotten a hold of his friends. The only thing he HAD managed to do was figure out how to change Joey, and he was pretty sure he'd put the diaper on backwards too.

He spent half the time crying, and the other half was spent freaking out and trying to remember what he should DO. He knew he was stupid, but...it felt like something inside his head had gone to pieces when he saw his Mum and Dad like that. He kept seeing that too, every time he shut his eyes. Even though it was really late and Joey was sleeping pretty soundly he couldn't do it. He kept seeing it over and over again.

Wally wished it was a nightmare. A dream. He wished that it was a trick the Delightful's had pulled. He wished that his mother and father had decided to pull some awful elaborate prank on him. He would hate them forever, but they'd be okay. It was around the time that he was sitting there, on the verge of a breakdown that the half-pipe lit up.

He thought it was the cops, and he wasn't sure why he was afraid of that. Wouldn't that be a good thing? It wasn't though, it was Numbuh Eighty-six, they must have tracked him down using his communicator, which he had jammed into the very bottom of the bag he had grabbed. "Wallabee Beetles, you are scheduled for immediate decomissioning."

_Oh, well isn't that nice. _Wally thought, deciding to reply by giving a death-glare. At the moment he was trying to figure out what to do because his parents had been killed. Let's just slap THAT cherry on top of this pie of a day why don't we? It was the only thing he had left, and he wasn't thirteen.

"Whoy." He asked, and it was about all he could manage because he was afraid he was about to burst into tears that very instant. He didn't want to cry in front of FANNY. Wait, his parents died, he could cry in front of her, then she'd feel like a jerk for even suggesting his decomissioning on the day that his parents were murdered.

"Because you betrayed some of the most top secret information we have to a teenager." She sneered. Which Wally hadn't done. He decided to point this out when he was hit in the head.

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When he woke up he was confused. He was sitting in a chair somewhere, Numbuh Eighty-six had Joey. The rest of his sector was there, Kuki was crying really hard. Wally stared ahead and tried to recollect why it was that his heart felt so sick.

His parents were killed. He was being decomissioned. Oh, right.

"By order of the supreme leader of the Kids Next Door, this TRAITOR, Numbuh Four, is scheduled for immediate decomissioning. His FRIENDS decided they'd like to say goodbye first. Get on with it." The frizzy haired girl screamed. Wally just stared at his shoes. He wasn't going to fight it. What was the point? His parents were dead. Apparently there wasn't much to fight for.

"Why'd you do it boy?" Numbuh Five asked. Wally's heart wrenched a little. Everything was just adding to the hurt. He lost his parents, he would never forget that. He was about to loose his friends, and even though his head would he knew in his heart that it would hurt just as badly. For some reason that hurt the most, as his friends surrounded hime they asked similiar questions. All of them, except Kuki who was crying too hard to talk.

They all believed that he did it. It took the rest of the fight out of him, the little he had left that pushed him forward left with those questions. Hadn't they known him long enough to say that it wasn't true? To deny it for him? No, not at all. He wouldn't even remember not to make friends anymore in a few seconds. Still he felt terribly bitter.

"Ah didn't." Wally said, but he had no fight in those words, just a tired resignation. Bottle all the hurt up kid, because the world isn't going to be there with a tissue for you anymore.

"WALLY!" Kuki wailed, and she flung herself on him. It surprised him, and he actually found himself hugging her back. He buried his face in her shoulder and wished harder than he had ever wished before that this was all there was in the world. That he could just stand like this and not have to face a future without friends, without his parents.

"THAT'S enough!" Numbuh Eighty-six said, cutting short the goodbyes. Kuki released him after about ten more seconds despite the loud call. The misery in her eyes made his heart hurt even more. Wally's head just slumped forward, he was hauled to his feet and marched into the room.

"Do ya think it'll take away any memories from mah real loife?" Wally asked, and it wasn't fear that he had for this but hope. He wanted the image of his mother and father to be erased from his memory, because he knew when he thought of them he'd never remember them as alive again. They'd always be those lifeless bodies on the floor. He never wanted to think about that moment again. He felt tears flood his eyes as Numbuh Eighty-six snorted and shook her head no.

He stepped through the door, and knew that when he was stepping out he'd be lost and alone and even more confused than he had ever been in his entire life.

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_**Three Days Later**_

When he woke up it was in the police station. He was holding Joey, and the officer came up and asked him everything he had been doing for the last twenty-four hours. Wally told them everything then, about his parents and finding them. About how he got scared that there was somebody bad and he and Joey left and he didn't know what to do. About how he couldn't remember half the afternoon.

He had been taken to his Aunt and Uncle's house immediately afterwards. They only came back for the funeral. Wally had to wear a suit, and he didn't think that made any sense. It wasn't like he ever wore a suit before then.

He remembered standing there, staring at the urns and trying to make the connection between those and his parents. He cried, and felt embarassed for crying even though he had every right to. Because of the way people stared at him when he held his baby brother and sobbed his heart out. With that sympathy, but that slight embarassment as well. As if they couldn't believe he'd do such a thing in public. And why the hell not? His parents had died dammit!

They were at an airport now. They were going to Australia, Wally was not. He would be staying in the states with a distant friend of the family. He wasn't exactly known for a good reputation, and it had taken Wally ages just to convince them to let him stay. Why? Because he didn't want to be around people that would want to watch him make friends. Friends were pointless.

He couldn't remember having any.

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_**Finally, finished it! I rewrote this several times because it wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to.**_

_**But I like how this first chapter turned out.**_


	2. Night Fable

_Disclaimer;_

_Falalala..._

_Own it I Do noooot..._

_**Alrighty then, next chapter AWAAAAY!**_

_**Forgive the bad language. Wally's a cranky boy...**_

_**The reason I cuss so much in Wally's POV thingies is so that I can get into his character better.**_

_**It wouldn't feel like I was writing about an angry teenaged boy unless I said things that I think an angry teenaged boy would say. XP**_

_**Laurie43- How do I come up with idea's so quickly? ... ... ... Hmmm goood question. They hit me in epiphanies really (If you've ever seen House it's kind of like that only his are quiet epiphanies that make him realize what is wrong with a patient and mine are exploding things when I come up with an idea because I get excited about it...) Honestly a lot of the time I think of ideas and they float around in my head and I think, hey, that'd be cool and just sit down and do it. :3 He found his dad in the parent's bedroom, he just didn't go and look because the first part of his shock wore off. (He was in shock pretty much the entire time through that chapter)**_

_**Numbeh 013- Thank you, here's your update! -hands-**_

_**sstoons3425- Thank you! I'm glad you think it was a good start, I worked hard on that first chapter :3**_

_**evemiliana- Because they thought he betrayed them? I know, poor guy, that's why he's such a grump when he's a teenager. **_

_**super ario- It's really weird but I really like dark fanficiton. I don't know why, maybe it's the emotion. Anyways, yeah, it's a lot darker than the Cat series that's for sure. We'll see who he meets in his future...**_

_**child who is cool- Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, it was sad but I really wanted to do a story with a LOT of emotion in it. XP Here you go.**_

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_Chapter Two- Night Fable_

Fifteen year old Wallabee Beetles frowned at the world outside of the car window. For several reasons. One, it was his old hometown. Two, that wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that his parents had been murdered here. Three, he didn't remember having any friends in his hometown so he wasn't super attached to it in the first place. Four, dick-head Collin wasn't letting him drive the damn car.

He was a better driver than that prick would ever be. He could kick his ass if he wanted to too. Wally cracked his knuckles ominously in the backseat. Oh, make that FIVE, he had to sit in the damn backseat. Of HIS car. He earned the money for it, he paid for it, it was HIS, as far as Wally was concerned.

Who the hell cared if he had a drivers license or not? Needless to say, Cleveland hadn't made a very good first impression on him. Or would that be second impression, technically, since he used to live here before he moved in with Phil?

Phil was one of his dad's old friends, from the wild dies of youth he had had. (His father had wild days of youth? Wally had hardly believed that bit.) Phil didn't have the greatest reputation, but Wally didn't give a rat's ass what most people thought of the man. Yeah, he wasn't what you'd call cleanly. Yeah, he didn't seem to give a shit what the kids in his house did. Wally didn't care, because at least he had a rough over his head. And a fairly good deal with Phil.

He was fifty, his hair was peppered with gray and balding near the top. Other than that it was a dark brown color. He was very tan (being a guy who enjoyed working out doors) and had a bit of a beer gut. Usually Wally saw him wearing jeans and a plaid shirt. He was from Montana, and really valued hard work. Oh, and he always seemed to have just a little bit of scruff on his jaw.

Collin was Phil's son. Twenty-three years old and about as easy to get along with as a rabid wolverine. Wally hated his guts, and Collin hated him. Probably because Phil treated Wally better than he treated Collin. That was because Collin wouldn't get off his boney ass and WORK though.

Collin brought the word 'weasel' into Wally's mind whenever he saw him...okay, not weasel, 'dick', but stiiilll. He was fit enough, but his face had a narrow look to it that made him think of somebody who thought they were better than everyone else. (Which Collin did so...) He had brown hair that Wally was pretty sure he never washed. Everything about him was dirty, and his teeth were yellow on account of the chewing tobacco and cigarrettes he liked so much.

Wally had learned that if you want to live in life, you better damn well be ready to work for it.

"Co-owning." Collin practically spit the tobacco he was chewing at the windshield. Wally scowled, he hated the shit. It was disgusting, and to be honest with you, not at ALL attractive. "I can't believe that I have to CO-own it."

Wally smirked. The reason they were moving back into the good ol' homestead (this being very sarcastic) was that Phil had landed an awesome deal on a run down old place. Wally had spent all summer travelling here and building the place practically from scratch. Collin hadn't done a thing. So when the time came for handing the deed over Phil gave them a surprise. It was to be owned by both Collin AND Wally. Wally hated the idea of working with Collin, but he had just as much power as that dick would have.

In other words, Colling wasn't going to be sitting on his little ass while Wally did all the work. Not if he wanted to get his cut of forty-percent. (Each got forty-percent, as twenty-percent went to utilities. Wally didn't care much for math, but even he'd work it out to keep from getting robbed blind from Collin.)

"At least I have a freakin' high-school diploma. What do you have, dropout? STD's?" Collin sneered, Wally flipped him that lovely universal symbol that angry car drivers so love to use. "Damn you, do you WANT me to kick your ass?"

"Ah'd ask ya the same thing...if Ah could tell the difference between your ass and your face." Wally snarled back, Collin slammed on the brakes and Wally didn't react except to give him a smirk. This clearly pissed Collin off, as he looked ready to leap into the back seat and strangle the life out of Wally.

"That's enough son, how old do you think you are? Besides, you'd just embarass yourself." Phil chuckled dryly and gave Wally a wink. Collin seethed at this and slunk down.

Normally Wally would have found it unfair, the idea of Phil treating him better than Collin. He would, but he didn't because Collin had basically proved a thousand times over that he was a coward and a jack-ass who wouldn't do the work he should have done in life. In fact, Collin was doing him a favor by handing over that Night Club. Well, part of that Night Club.

"Fine, just tell that little ass back there to knock his shit off." Collin snapped, Wally rolled his eyes and leaned back against the seat he was in to watch the scenary of downtown Cleveland flash by. He wished he could say he had memories of this place, but his childhood was a spotty slideshow of things he barely remembered.

Collin slammed on the breaks again (making Wally grimace a little) as they pulled in front of the place. His eyes narrowed, and Wally could have sworn he was ready to spit, "Black Fable?"

"Eh, it's alroight." Wally said, jumping out of his car and surveying it slightly. It wasn't too impressive, old and beat up, but he still didn't want Collin dinging it up or anything like that. He didn't particularly like the name of the club himself, but wasn't about to agree on ANYTHING with Collin.

"I think it's got a mysterious allure to it." Phil said, he had picked the name himself and the fifty year-old was beaming at the building like it was his baby. Wally couldn't help but feel a stirring of pride for it too. He'd worked all summer on the damn thing, he better feel SOME pride. "Kids these days are into that dark stuff anyways, what with that vampire hype."

"So pretty much we've got a club that'll attract goths." Collin said, as if the thought disgusted him. Wally hardly knew why. Collin didn't know any goths personally, it was terribly ignorant to judge a group of people just because they noticed the darker side of life. Then again, Collin wasn't exactly understanding.

"No, it's not only the goth kids that are into that stuff these days." Phil said, though he sounded more amused than a lot of adults did when they talked about the vampire stuff. Wally didn't much care for it himself, he had never been a reader and he didn't like blowing his money on movies.

"There's an apartment for you Collin, down stairs. It's sound-proof. Wally you've got the upstairs, since you worked on the place so hard." Phil explained, he handed Wally a set of keys and the boy felt a small smile light up his face for a moment. "Treat her right, you guys are co-owners in MY world. In other words, I can fire both of your asses if I see fit. It's yours, but it's mine, got it?"

"Got it." Wally replied, and dove for his duffel bag in the trunk. "Come on Collin, get ya ass in gear!"

"Oh-ho, how freakin' mature." Collin replied back as Wally took off up the stairs. Wally's room had already been filled with boxes of his stuff. He'd have to thank Phil for that later, he didn't have to haul anything. He didn't bother unpacking, just tossed his duffel bag on the old mattress and looked out the window.

Pretty nice view, how many kids his age got to live downtown? In a club no less. There was a knock on his door and he turned to see Phil leaning against the frame with a card in his hand. Wally tipped his head to the side and walked over. "Hey kid, you like it?"

"Yeah." Wally said, with a quick shrug of his shoulders. He cast a curious glance at the card, "What's tha?"

"That." Phil said, with a slightly mischevious grin, "Is your fake ID, can't have you getting kicked out of your own club. Now I KNOW it says twenty-one kid, and you know I don't mind if you drink in moderation but I don't want to hear about you getting your ass hammered got it? Don't worry about getting caught or something, I doubt you'll ever even have to use it, except to drive. You're tall though, I think you can pull it off..."

"Thanks!" Wally said it, and it was one of those times that he actually really meant it, "So Ah can droive?"

"Yeah kid, you know how to drive better than any of the kids here I'm sure." Phil replied with a chuckle. Wally nodded his head and as Phil walked away he punched his fist into the air. "You can have your Olds, Collin'll have to use mine until he earns enough cash to get his own. Oh, and Wally?"

"Yup?" Wally said, catching the note in his foster's mouth. The man hesitated for a heartbeat before rumbling lightly.

"Find some friends kid, it's unhealthy for you to desocialize as much as you do. When was the last time you talked to somebody your age? Four, five years?" Phil looked at him with slightly nervous blue eyes, and Wally found himself sullenly glaring at the floor. The man sighed, and Wally fell back on his bed.

Still, he respected Phil. He'd try to find somebody to hang with.

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Wally frowned as he walked aimlessly through the town. Aimlessly, because he honestly had no freakin' clue where the hell he was going. Some little kids spotted him down the street, and instead of just playing like normal kids usually did they stopped and GLARED at him. Like his very existance was something they detested.

How quaint.

_Aren't they supposed to be in school or something? _Wally thought, when he was a kid he HATED school. Everything in it, at first it was just because he never got that stuff. When he DID start understanding it was about three years too late, and he decided to drop out anyways. Not really because school involved thinking anymore (He'd figured out that if you actually listened to what the teacher said in class, you ACTUALLY knew what everyone else did, how cool was that?) it was more because of the fact that school meant there were kids. Peers. They ALWAYS wanted to know what his deal was. How come you hardly smile, why do you hang out alone, what's with the orange hoodie, why aren't your parents here?

Too many questions, too little patience. Wally didn't want to put up with it, and he got his G.E.D. anyways. Sure he wouldn't get high paying jobs in his life (except now, since he had the Black Fable) but he would earn enough to live. He was capable of living. More capable than most of the kids his age anyways.

So it was while wandering aimlessly through the alley that he found them. It was completely by accident, and when he reflected on it later he realized that if he had been just a little later he would have probably been killed. Still, the teen just ducked into a place that looked like a side-yard and found himself near an old warehouse.

There was a red couch outside, it wasn't impressive or anything like that. Tattered and beat-up, and sitting on it was some black-haired kid that seemed to be fiddling with a video game of some sort. Wally kicked over an empty beer bottle and the kid's head snapped up. He was scrawny, probably around Wally's age, with hazel-brown eyes. The kid was wearing some black t-shirt and baggy jeans. He couldn't make out the writing on it, because it was pretty worn.

"Hello there!" The boy said, flashing a friendly smile that totally caught Wally off guard.

"Uh...er...hoi." Wally said, the boy stood up and walked over to him. Shorter than Wally, then again Wally was pretty tall for his age, something that had almost magically happened the summer he turned fourteen. The boy was friendly, overly friendly pretty much in fact.

"Nice to meet you, you kind of accidentally found this place didn't you? I'm Samuel, Samuel Havoc. It's nice to meet ya..." The boy was grinning and moving his hands in a motion that said Wally needed to fill in the blank here.

"Wally." Wally said shortly. Samuel grinned at him cheerfully and pulled a bottle of Coke out from seemingly nowhere. Wally blinked and took it from him with a half-dazed expression on his face.

"You new here?" Samuel asked, going back to the couch and gesturing to an open box of pizza, "Help yourself."

"Thanks...erm, yeah, sorta." Wally said.

"You sound foreign, you from out of the states or something?" Samuel gave him another friendly smile and Wally found himself wondering who the hell this kid was. He certainly had no qualms with meeting new people. Not that Wally minded. If he really wanted to make friends he was pretty sure he'd like Samuel.

"Mah folks were from Australia but weh moved to the States." Wally explained, "They doied foive years ago."

"Oh, too bad." Samuel said, and Wally was so surprised that he couldn't even hit him. The boy said it in the way that somebody mentioned their petunia's dying or something. Like it hardly mattered, "Sorry, didn't mean it like that. I know how you feel, gah, okay, so I don't know how you feel. That is...my sister and mom both got killed in a car accident a few years ago. My dad and I don't get along well so...I just don't like when people say sorry about things that aren't their fault."

"Oh." Wally said, and took a bite of the pizza. It was good. "Ah just moved back, own the new night club downtown..."

"Night Fable? Sweeet! Hey, maybe I'll drop in sometime and see you!" The boy cast a casual glance at his watch and added, "Mmmm, you better be going soon. I'll bring you around here some time when the other guys are around. They'd probably like you."

So one instant he was sitting cross-legged on the ground and the next he was standing in the alley again. The boy would have thought the whole thing some wild dream made out of his imagination if it weren't for the bottle of Coke in his hand. And the pizza. Wally shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the sign above the door. He almost laughed out loud when he saw it, something he hadn't noticed before. A symbol of a snake with fangs dripping with venom, and the word Fangs.

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_**End of chapter two.**_

_**Who are the Fangs?**_

_**Well, I KNOW, and you can probably guess.**_

_**Or not. Who knows?**_

_**I luffles Samuel -cuddles-**_

_**Reviews much appreciated**_


	3. The Fangs

_Disclaimer;_

_Nothing is mine, except the plot._

_And any characters you don't recognize._

_**:3 **_

_**Because it was asked several times...**_

_**Joey is in Australia with Wally's Aunt and Uncle. I'm sorry that was so unclear XP**_

_**numbuh34- Sorry I was a tad unclear about that...-fail- Epic, I love that word...it's epic...**_

_**imasmurf93- I can only hope :3 Lawl, yeah, Collin popped in my head because I was mad at my brother. -coughs- He's based off of him. :D**_

_**sstoons3425- Good guess! Yeah, I needed somebody for Wally to focus some hate on. :3**_

_**Laurie43- -cackles evilly- Anything to make Wally's life tougher I guess. -evil smirk-**_

_**evemiliana- Hear that Collin? Evemiliana is gonna come after you if you don't get it in gear...I think? Mmm, goth girl, maybe, if I can think of a good character. For me though I don't just MAKE them up randomly. I think of them for hours, write out their personalities and histories. It helps me make them more...-waves hand around- ermies, charactery. XP**_

_**CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, **_

_Chapter Three- The Fangs_

Wally sat on his bed and wondered about the sign he'd seen near that board. The Fangs. It sounded rather sinister, if not a bit cliche'. For some reason Hoagie couldn't get it out of his mind. Something about it...riled him up. Made him feel edgy, and even irritable. He could sense that it would be important to him in the future. It was something Wally relied on in fights all the time. Instinct.

So could he really say he was surprised when Collin came into the room, covered with dust from head to toe, and scowling. "Hey dumb-ass, you've got some little kid looking for you or some shit."

Wally blinked and got out of his bad. He hauled ass down the stairs to see Samuel standing in the doorway. His cheerful smile was plastered on his face, but his hazel eyes looked...almost haunted. It was something Wally hadn't noticed before. Samuel waved when Wally got to the door, "Not open yet?"

"Nah, not till tomorra." Wally said, casting a glance over his shoulder. "Ya wanted to see meh?"

"Yeah, erm, the guys are back and well they asked if I could take you to em'." Samuel smiled, but there was something false about it. Wally blinked in surprise, the guy's eyes were panicked. It was almost as if he were trying to warn him without saying something. Yet the fact that that sign stuck in his head spurred the teenager into action.

"Sure, jus' let meh get mah jacket." Wally stated, and reached for a zip-up orange jacket. (He loved the color orange) Samuel's smile faltered a bit, but the boy beamed a bit and walked quickly into the street. Wally had to practically jog to keep up, which was strange since he was taller than Samuel, "Woah, slow down..."

Samuel only cast a quick smile over his shoulder before ducking into the alley. It was dark now, and Wally hesitated for the barest of instances. He wasn't afraid, it was just one of those things that comes as instinct. It didn't seem like the smart thing to do. Wally grinned wildly around him suddenly. He wasn't known for doing the smart thing. Hell, he was usually known for doing the stupid shit.

So, against all better judgement, the young boy ducked into the alleyway after the boy.

_**CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, **_

The warehouse yard was filled now, well not filled persay. There were about six other people besides Samuel who was standing next to a very tall guy. The guy cast a critical glance at Wally, and the boy couldn't help but notice how dead his eyes looked. As if there was no emotion in the guy. It was freakin' creepy.

First was the tall guy Samuel was talking to. He TOWERED over Wally, and had an intimidating air about him. He was incredibly buff, with black hair that hung in eyes that were a paler shade of green than Wally's. His mouth was set in a grim line, and as mentioned before, he had NO emotion. Not in his eyes, or on his face. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a brown jacket over that. And jeans.

(Flawed Design by Stabilo came on my iPod, holy cats that fits this fic!) Behind him was a girl, the only one in the entire group. She was sprawled almost lazily across the couch, but she was giving Wally a quirked half-smile. Her hair was long, brown, and flowing. Her eyes were a deep shade of gray, a stormy color that seemed to grow a bit lighter when she saw him. She wasn't modest about her body shape at all, but it wasn't as if she was showing herself off either. She wore jeans and a v-neck t-shirt. She was around Wally's age.

On the couch next to her was a little boy, yeah, a kid. He must have been about six or seven years old. He was wearing baggy pants, and a t-shirt that was waaay too big for him. Still, an excited smile crossed his face at the sight of Wally. His brown hair was mussed up a bit, sticking up at the top. His eyes were the same stormy color as hers.

In the shadows was a lanky boy with glasses. There was a dangerous glint to his deep blue eyes, and he grinned almost wickedly at the sight of Wally. His hair was blonde, and hung in his eyes like limp spaghetti noodles. The way he slunk forward made Wally think instantly of those guys that attacked women, he didn't like him. He too, seemed to be near Wally's age.

Sprawled near the sofa was a guy who could have been taller than Wally, with half-closed eyes. His eyes were dark blue, but he had the same brown hair as the girl and little boy that were sitting on the couch behind him. He was older than Wally, Wally knew it instantly. There was an air of serenity to him, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Finally there was a guy that could have been nineteen or twenty. He was the oldest of the whole group, with hair that was so pale blonde that it looked white. His eyes were a deep shade of brown, and there was something about him that made you feel like you could listen to anything he said. Yet a dangerousness to his charismatic allure that made Wally's stomach twist nervously.

"Who is this?" The girl said, sounding vaguely amused as Wally's face heated up when he noticed her watching him. She was very pretty, "Ooo, you've got good taste boy."

"Leave the kid alone Destiny-Jane." The emotionless boy murmured, studying Wally with his piercing green eyes. The girl looked at him with a roll of her stormy colored eyes and laughed a high laugh, yet she looked a little pissed off.

"That's D.J. Todd." The girl said, and she cast a half-smile at Wally, "And I didn't mean anything by it. You're not my type, too much scowly-scowly and that would drive me up the wall."

"Good for ya." Wally growled, and she laughed as if she found this amusing.

"That's Wally." Samuel said, looking to the oldest guy with a grim half-smile, "I met him earlier today. He's a pretty cool kid, his parents died..."

"Tha' makes meh cool?" Wally snarled, ready to punch Samuel. The boy's eyes flashed with hurt, and he backed off so that he was standing behind the couch. Much to Wally's surprise everybody, but the emotionless boy, laughed at this. Wally turned angry green eyes on the oldest boy, "What the Hell is so funny?"

"You. Samuel didn't mean that you were cool because your parents were dead." The oldest boy said mildly, "He meant that you're like us. All of us have lost somebody, right guys?"

"Ooo, story hour." The boy with the glasses said, and giggled a high-pitched giggle.

"Alright, Wally, right? Sit down, make yourself comfortable a bit and I'll introduce you to the gang." The older guy said, Wally walked over to the wall and LEANED against it. Nobody was going to freakin' tell him to sit down, not if he didn't feel like it. The blonde guy narrowedh is brown eyes and laughed lightly, "Samuel, why don't you start?"

"He knows me." Samuel pointed out, kicking his feet up.

The boy who was emotionless turned his dead eyes on Wally, and the young boy could have sworn that his skin was going to crawl so much that it would just fall off. "Todd Silverwolfe." The boy stated simply, his green eyes flashing slightly with the first emotion Wally had ever seen. Or, it was as close to an emotion as Wally had seen in him. Wariness.

"Destiny-Jane." The girl with the long brown hair chippered, and suddenly frowned. "Call me that and I'll kick you're ass though boy, don't think I can't either. You may got balls, but I've got a foot to kick em' with. Call me D.J."

"I'm Morton, but everybody calls me Morty! I'm eight years old!" The boy beamed brightly at Wally and added, "You own the dancing place right? Is it cool?"

"Shhh, Morty..." D.J. said with a laugh, and picked the boy up in her arms, "He's my kid brother. In other words, if you make him cry you're in for a world of hurt."

"If you make EITHER of my siblings cry you're in for it." The tall boy with brown hair agreed, he turned his dark blue eyes on Wally, "I'm Jared, no nickname, just Jared."

"I'm Peter." The boy with glasses said with a high-pitched chuckle. Wally didn't like the way he was itching himself, and twitching a bit too. The kid just scared the shit out of him. Forget the Todd kid, this guy practically had the word 'serial killer' written on his forehead as a label.

"And I..." The oldest kid said with a half-smile that was designed for assuring safety. "I am Zack. Nice to meet you Wally. We're The Fangs, probably the most bad-ass group of people you'll find in Cleveland. Aw, sure, we look like a bunch of teddybears now but, well, bears have teeth."

"And claws!" Morton said, hooking his small hands into said appendages and snarling savagely like a bear.

"Indeed." Peter agreed, sniffing some mysterious substance out of his hand. (Well THAT explains the twitchiness...)

"Well kid, what do you think of us?" Zack said, looking expectantly at Wally. The Australian didn't know what to do, part of him felt like slugging the Peter guy in the face, another part felt like picking Morton up and getting the hell away from here. Still, another part, the strongest part of all, burned with curiousity.

"Ya have mah attention." Wally finally said.

"Good, that's what we wanted. D.J., if you please..." Zack leaned back as the girl sidled on up to him. She poked him, prodded him, and grabbed his hair and pulled a little piece out. Wally snarled and leaped for her but she danced away with a giggle. "Well?"

"Definitely a fighter." She agreed, and smiled warmly at Wally, "Sorry about that Walls. See, I'm a really good judge of character, can I guess you? Let me see...you're an agressive kid, always have been. You don't know much about...something, not sure what, but I can see some confusion and hesitation in your eyes every once in awhile. You're a fighter, and you've got a shoooort temper."

"Yeah, so?" Wally said, trying to hide the fact that he was thrown. Which was pointless since D.J. could tell anyways, the girl gave him a friendly nudge.

"Just seeing if you're fang material, that's all Walls." D.J. sang, and hopped for the couch, tackling her older brother and knocking him backwards. Wally blinked in surprise and looked over at Samuel.

"We're a bit like a family..." Zack said, "We need one more member since Jonathon decided to drop us like an old hat. That's where, conveniently enough, you come in. How would you like to hang with us kid?"

Wally stared. A gang? Weren't those bad? Then again, he hated Cleveland. Suddenly the idea of being part of it's terror appealed to him, it made him feel strong. The idea of having that power over somebody else burned inside his head like poison. He couldn't deny that he wanted to be with them for the other reason, the fact that they were alone...like him. "Foine, Ah'll join ya, but what's in it for meh?"

"Oooo, he's fiesty." Peter giggled, Wally felt his control slipping. He was going to punch that perverted little bastard right in the face in a couple of seconds.

"How about...second in command?" Zack purred, Peter looked unhappy at this, and Wally could have only guessed that he'd just replaced the boy. Which made the deal all the more sweet. Wally grabbed Zack's hand and shook it firmly. Zack's mouth twisted up into a smile that kind of made Wally nervous, "Alright kid..."

(All of you people out there DO NOT EVER DO THIS! It's a good way to get a bad disease...) Zack whipped out a switch-blade and carved a cut in the center of his hand. He tossed it to Peter, who repeated the move, and D.J. and so forth. Even Morton cut a deep gash into the palm of his hand. Finally the knife ended at Wally, and the boy stared at it with a stomach that churned slightly.

That Peter guy probably had something nasty, he looked like he'd be the type too...

"Cut your hand, and shake hands with everyone in the gang." Zack said, a commanding note in his voice that made Wally's hand move almost magically and slice it deeply. Blood welled up, and he walked around firmly clasping hands with all of them, even Peter, until he was at Zack. "Welcome to the group, brother."

Wally and Zack firmly shook each other's hand.

_**CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, **_

_**End of the third chapter.**_

_**I know it's short, but my muse is low so phooey on all of you.**_

_**My B-day is tomorrow, so the chances of an update is kind of slim. As I'll be celebrating being born nineteen years ago.**_

_**Reviews are nice :3**_


	4. Assignments

_Disclaimer;_

_I own nothing but my own characters and the plot._

_**Well...I decided to make a playlist for this fanfiction. Something that'll get me in the mood of Wally's angst and such. So I'll list the songs that are on it for you guys... (because I'm random and bored like that)**_

_**Song written first and then the artist...**_

_**Always- Saliva**_

_**Apologize-OneRepublic**_

_**Atmosphere- Shinedown (you'll see a lot of these guys)**_

_**Away in Silence- Creed**_

_**Begin Again- Shinedown**_

_**Beyond the Sun- Shinedown**_

_**Blind- Lifehouse**_

_**Breaking a Habit- Linkin Park (inspired me to write this)**_

_**Breaking Inside- Shinedown**_

_**Burning Bright- Shinedown**_

_**Can't Fight this Feelin'- In the style of Finn from Glee**_

_**Cold- Crossfade**_

_**Crash and Burn- Savage Garden**_

_**Crying Out- Shinedown**_

_**Death of Me- Red**_

_**Down and Out- Tantric**_

_**Fake- Shinedown**_

_**Fever- Family Force 5**_

_**Flawed Design- Stabilo**_

_**Frontline- Pillar**_

_**Go- Boys Like Girls**_

_**Help Me- Alkaline Trio**_

_**Heroes- Shinedown**_

_**I'm Not Alright- Sanctus Real**_

_**I Dare You- Shinedown**_

_**If You Only Knew- Shinedown**_

_**The Kill- 30 Seconds To Mars**_

_**Let it Go- Cavo**_

_**Lonely Day- System of A Down**_

_**The Mess I Made- Parachute**_

_**Never Gonna Be Alone- Nickelback**_

_**New Divide- Linkin Park**_

_**On My Sleeve- Creed**_

_**Overcome- Creed**_

_**Pain- Three Days Grace**_

_**Rain- Creed (LOVE this song XP)**_

_**Rebirthing- Skillet**_

_**Rise Above This- Seether**_

_**Savin' Me- Nickelback**_

_**Scars- Papa Roach**_

_**Shed Some Light- Shinedown**_

_**The Shot Heard 'Round the World- Boys Like Girls**_

_**Sin With a Grin- Shinedown**_

_**So So Suicide- Finger Eleven**_

_**Some Day- Shinedown**_

_**Sound of Madness- Shinedown**_

_**Stop Crying Your Heart Out- Oasis**_

_**Suddenly- Creed**_

_**Time of Dying- Three Days Grace**_

_**Until the Day I Die- Story of the Year**_

_**Use Somebody- Kings of Leon**_

_**We Need Each Other- Sanctus Real**_

_**Whatever it Takes- Lifehouse**_

_**With Me- Sum41**_

_**Yer Majesty- Shinedown**_

_**.45- Shinedown**_

_**Lawl, long list right? XP I highly recommend all those songs, but I'm a bit biased since they're on my iPod. I like them, or they wouldn't be there. :3 Shinedown is my most muse-inspiring band, I must admit. Luffles the snot out of those guys I do...**_

_**ARGH! My cat just used my leg as a scratching post. Literally, I wasn't doing anything but typing and he just reached up and clawed the crud out of me. -glares at Mike- Jerk.**_

_**Now, Reviews...**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- Indeed they are... (regarding your name) XP Thank you, I'd be a bit sad if somebody found it boring...**_

_**PoisonCrysell- Thank you, I luff her too. She's honestly my favorite OC ever, probably because she's just so dang hard to write. She's very deep.**_

_**imasmurf93- Thank you too. :3 Yeah, she's a streetwise kiddo, has to be...Peter -shudders-**_

_**clueless c- Indeed he is. They'll come soon...:3**_

_**faithnmanga- Good luck! XP**_

_**evemiliana- You just gave me an awesome idea! Thank you, it's not a girl, but I hope you'll like him. :3 This char's an old un' of mine, and I haven't used him for anything but Pkmn rp but I think he'll actually fit into this rather nicely. He needs some action. -grins- He's not really goth either...XP**_

_**sstoons3425- Thankies. Actually the members aren't that different from what you'd see. While females are rare, Morty technically isn't. Gangs are usually made of kids from young ages to teenagers. Usually ones that feel they are alone in the world, and feel as if the gang is a home for them. The way they recruit them is feeding off of their social anxiety. I know this because I know many random things that will not pertain to my life...at all...XP**_

_**Laurie43- Don't let D.J. hear you saying that. XP We shall see...**_

_**starfirewinx- Thank you and thank you. :3**_

_**

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_Chapter Four- Assignments_

Wally felt as if he was going to kill somebody. The young Australian had never been known for patience, and what little of it that he had had been wittled away into a miniscule speck. Wally clenched his fist as Collin heaved another forlorn sigh behind him, and the teen wondered how much time he would have to spend in jail if he clubbed him to death with the wrench he had in his hands.

"Can't you work any faster? Opening time is in eight hours dick breath." Collin finally sneered. Wally bit the inside of his cheek, and told himself that he would bludgeon Collin to death the slowest way possible. With a coffee mug, or something small like that. Starting with his fingers..."Come on, hurry up."

"Maybeh..." Wally growled through his gritted teeth, "It would help if ya, oh, Ah don't know...got off ya're ASS?"

"I'm not sitting on you." Collin replied, Wally sat up so quickly that his head slammed into the top of the sink he'd been working on. Water suddenly sprayed him in the face, and he let out a cry of utter fury, "Smooth move dipshit."

"That's IT!" Wally screamed, diving out from underneath the sink and pulling his arm back to punch Collin in the face. Something caught his hand, and the boy turned with a wild light in his green eyes, "What the f-...D.J.? How'd ya get in here?"

The girl had caught him by the wrist, and he was surprised by the fact that her grip was so strong. She looked over his shoulder and smiled a quirked and sensual smile, "Who'sat?"

"Only the product of your dreams..." Collin purred. Wally almost missed the way her eyes flashed with momentary disgust, she was giggling suddenly into her small hand. "I'm Collin baby, what's YOUR name?"

"Maybe I'll tell you if you help me out. I've got a big box on the corner of Maplestreet, could you pick it up for me?" D.J. actually fluttered her eyelashes. Collin grinned and hopped out of the place as if somebody had lit his pants on fire. D.J. watched him go and said with a hint of disgust to her tone, "Well, that one is a piece of work."

"Why'd ya do that?" Wally asked, looking at her indcreduously, "And how'd ya get in?"

"I did that so we could talk alone, I got in through the front door." D.J. smiled gently at him, and then looked down at her hands. After a moment she said, very softly, "Look...you're a nice kid. You've got nice things going for you Wally. Don't do this, you'll only get screwed over in the long run."

"Do what?" Wally said, the girl cast him a look of hopelessness. Suddenly her gray eyes widened and she sucked in a breath, "Zack."

"Howdy kid." Zack said, and glanced down at Wally. "Whatchya doin' here D.J.? Eh, whatever, we've got a job to do. Wally I want you to tag along, so you can see what we do. You any good at running?"

"Yeah, Ah guess..." Wally said. Zack gave him a grin that made him a little nervous, and Wally followed the tall boy out of his club.

_**

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**_

_**(Meet Kuki Sanban)**_

The teenaged girl ducked into the darkened room. She had been careful to avoid any attention from her peers, and now she was completely alone as she looked around the emptied computer room. With the precision of one who has done it a thousand times, she went over to the third one on the left and rapidly typed a password in the screen. It flickered once, and the entire building suddenly lost power...but the computer. It was shining a bright blue, and underneath the desk it sat on a tile suddenly slid open.

The oriental girl tossed her pack in and slid through the narrow opening. The closing mechanism was heat activated, and slid shut with a barely audible click behind her. The teen found herself in a familiar passageway.

The operative had to admit that the TND treehouses were way cooler than the ones she had seen as a KND operative. Being covert every TND treehouse existed underground. Most of the time it was the root system of one of the treehouses the Kids Next Door used, this one was a special base hidden right under the highschool. It was risky coming here during the day, and her team leader preferred it if they entered it from one of the entrances OUTSIDE of the school.

Still, Kuki had been careful.

That was her name. Kuki. Well, Kuki Sanban. Her parents were a bit strict but it never seemed to change her carefree manner. Not that she was all sparkles and ponies mind you. Kuki was more complex than many of the people gave her credit for. Like, how she was so carefree because she saw what it did to her parents to be so serious. How she was determined to be happy, and sometimes that made her miserable.

Yes, she thinks it's confusing too.

Kuki had been fighting adult tyranny since she was a kid. Almost her entire sector (discluding two special cases, but we'll get back to that later) had been chosen as top operatives. Thus they were given a chance to continue in the struggle against adults as a covert operation known as the Teens Next Door. Their leader had gone away on some super secret thing that she couldn't remember, leaving a good friend of Kuki's in charge.

Then there was Wally. It was strange to think that it still hurt, that it still made her feel like crying after such a long time. Three years. She hadn't seen her friend in three years. A freak mistake had happened, an operative known as Numbuh Zero-Four had been scheduled for decommissioning, due to them leaking some information to the teens. Some idiot had left the 'Zero' off, and they had decommissioned her friend instead.

After Hoagie's brother had sacrificed his status as a KND operative to save them the Supreme Leader (who know lead the TND) Numbuh 362 decided to create a system that would allow decommissioned operatives to return to the KND. ONLY if five other operatives could vouch for the trustworthiness of that person.

So they had gone to fetch Wally, and found that he had moved. That his parents had DIED, and on the same day he was decommissioned too. It broke Kuki's heart to think of how lonely he must have been, how betrayed he must have felt. It killed her. They had searched for nearly a year, and finally had given up.

_Poor Wally._ Kuki thought, her hand going to her pocket where she kept a tattered piece of one of his old hoodies she had found once. Her violet eyes were narrowed deep in thought, so when her fellow team-mate leaped out and yelled 'boo!' she leaped about thirty feet in the air and squealed.

The operative in question was one from her old sector. Hoagie Gilligan, who she called Numbuh Two only if they were alone. For the reason that they had once been a team together. (Being TND operatives meant they had numbers, but never used them in public, for they were covert) He had shaped up over the years, going from a short and rather pudgy boy to a tall and lanky young man. A brown ball cap was placed firmly on his head (sometimes Kuki wondered if he did it to copy the savvy female of their team) but a bit of his auburn hair stuck out from underneath it. His eyes were hidden behind the same yellow-tinted goggles he had worn in his youth, and he wore a jean-jacket over a white shirt.

"Scared you." Hoagie said, apparently feeling the need to point this out.

"Hoagie, get yo' immature ass over here!" Abby, the leader of their team, called. Hoagie shot a nervous smile at her over his shoulder and shrugged aloofly to Kuki.

Abby was the other member of Sector V that made up their team. Her dark skin was complimented by the fact that she always seemed to wear dark colors. Dark blues and reds especially. Her thick black hair was pulled into a loose pony-tail behind her head, and she wore thick golden hoop earrings on each ear. Abby had a look of beauty to her that make people jealous. It was a SIMPLE beauty, and Kuki doubted her friend really ever had to put too much effort into her appearance. Abby had a sense of mystery and confidence to her that blended to make her look complete. Abby narrowed her brown eyes at Hoagie from beneath her tattered red hat, the one she'd had since she was a little kid.

"Isn't that a bit strange?" The newest member of their team said in a dark monotone, "That you would be unhappy that he's immature. Isn't that kind of the point, fighting adult tyranny?"

His name was Simon. The boy loved all things dark, which was terribly ironic since he happened to have been born with the genetic disorder called albinism. Due to this he was incredibly pale, very, very, very pale actually. It didn't really help that he always wore a black trench-coat, over a black t-shirt and dark jeans. His eyes were a kind of blue-white color that was a little hard to get used too. Not that she saw them much, since Simon had albinism he had to wear sunglasses. Something about...being photophobic or something like that. Kuki felt bad for him because he had no friends outside of the TND (the people he spyed on didn't count), a lot of people teased him and called him a vampire. It wasn't his fault he couldn't go outside and show as much skin. Still, he wasn't exactly friendly.

"Shut up, SIMON!" Fanny, the final member of their team, snapped. Simon glowered at her and ran his hands through his fair blonde hair in nervousness as she aimed a plate at his head. It shattered harmlessly, due to the fact that Simon ducked at the last second, behind him.

With blazing green eyes and thick red hair it was clear to see she was of Irish decent, even without that thick accent of hers. Fanny had a nasty temper, and a habit of going a bit over-board with certain things. A tom-boy to the end, she wore a simple army green jacket over a black blouse and jeans. Oh, and boots, Fanny loved boots. At the moment her frizzy hair had been pulled back into a thick ponytail.

"Both of you just shut it!" Abby ordered with an exasperatted sigh. Fanny shot her a look that could have either been wounded or pissed, Kuki was unsure, and then sat down on the opposite end of the couch. Away from Simon. Simon snickered behind his hand, clearly thinking he had one this match. "Kuki, do you mind sittin' down so we can get goin'?"

"Noooo problem!" Kuki chimed, beaming at her friend. She saw Abby give her a light smile and Kuki plopped herself on the couch between Simon and Fanny. Hoagie sat on her other side, by Simon. "What's going on?"

"It's about that new club in town." Simon said softly, leaning back casually against the soft sofa they sat on. "Right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Abby agreed, "A new club is in town. As you know most teens aren't allowed in clubs. Which makes it a hot-spot for a lot of the teens that are on the enemy, and also a good place for adults to discuss things without us hearing them. Not that they KNOW about us but still."

"So what are we going to do? I can't go to a club. Daddy'd wring my neck." Fanny complained, her voice had a slightly irritating habit of rising and falling in pitch as she spoke. Kuki got a death-glare from her green-eyed team-mate as she clapped her hands over her ears in a child-like manner.

"If you let your Daddy know what we do in the Teens Next Door you'll be booted out before you can blink Fanny." Hoagie said, his cheerful voice didn't betray whether the remark was intended to be sarcastic or just a light tease. Didn't matter, because Fanny was suddenly trying to strangle the boy, "Woah, hold on, HEY!"

"Stop!" Abby yelled, Fanny looked on the verge of arguing but sat down after a moment of grumbling. "He's right Fanny. This isn't something you better be talking about with your dad. Plus it's on the complete opposite end of town from your house."

"Ooo!" Kuki said, as a thought popped in her head. She raised her hand and her over-sized sleeve slipped down to her elbow as she did. "Oooo!"

"Yes...Kuki..." Abby said, trying to hide her amusement.

"How do we get in? Don't you have to be eighteen to even get in the doors?" Kuki queried, Abby nodded her head and looked over at Simon who was standing up quickly. The boy retrieved something from the coffee table, they had been sitting near a tennis ball, and smiled a rather rare smile.

"That's what these are for." Simon said, and tossed one to each of the members. Kuki eyed hers with a twinge of excitement in her stomach. Worry too, and rebelliousness roiled there.

"Swwwweeeet, fake I.D.'s." Hoagie said, as if he'd been given the Holy Grail of cool objects. Kuki, Abby, and Fanny rolled their eyes at the same time. Something only Kuki noticed, which made her giggle uncontrollably while everyone else gave her a quizzical look.

"We go different days, no suspicion. Just for a week." Abby said. "Tonight Simon and Fanny will go. Hoagie and Abby will go tomorrow, and Kuki you'll go alone the day after that. Abby's sure you can handle it girl."

"Oooo, a solo-mission." Kuki said, beaming. Hoagie grinned so widely that she thought her friends face would split in two. Abby eyed him suspiciously as he casually leaned back in the couch.

"Aw, Abby just wants an excuse to dance with me aaaaallll alone." Hoagie practically purred. Abby's hand whipped out and grabbed the tennis ball from the coffee table. The next instant it was whizzing through the air, and meeting the middle of Hoagie's forhead with a slightly unpleasant 'thwacking' noise. Hoagie yelped, and fell over.

_**

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**_

_**(Back to our Main Charrie)**_

Wally felt extremely uncomfortable, and that was saying a lot. As he stared at the house in front of him he felt his heart thud a little painfully. Jared, who was standing next to him, snorted a little at the look on his face. "What's your problem?"

"These people...neveh did anything to meh." Wally said, looking to wear D.J. was talking to an elderly couple in the yard. Morty held her hand, and chattered with her cheerfully. Wally and Jared watched as Todd, Peter, and Zack cleaned out what seemed like the entire house.

"So?" Jared said, his jaw set grimly as he fiddled with the safety on the pistol he was holding. ("For security, that's all kid." Zack had assured him.) "What's your point."

"Whoy steal from em?" Wally said. Wally hoped that his parents couldn't watch him at all, they'd be so disappointed to see him doing this. _Why do I get myself into these messes?_

"Did they do anything to help you either?" Jared snarled, and Wally blinked at the sudden ferocity in his tone, "Did they pick you up at the street and give you a place to stay? What do you think they'd do, Wally, if I told them that I was homeless. That I'm only eighteen, and that my sisters only sixteen and Morty's only seven. What would they do?"

Wally stared down at his hands and slowly said, "Help?"

"Wrong." Jared said coldly, "Nobody helps. It's a cold world out here kid, haven't you figured that much out yet? Did anybody help you when your parents were killed? No, they just took you from everything familiar right? Didn't console you, or tell you it wasn't your God-damned fault, did they? They would take them away. I can't EVER let that happen. We're family, we stick together."

It must have surprised him, when he punched Jared. The gun went off, but didn't hit anybody. Scared the shit out of the old woman though, but Wally didn't care. He was throwing his fist into Jared's face and suddenly hauling the older boy to his feet. Fury flashed in his eyes, his entire body trembled. "Don't. EVEH, compare mah loife to yours you dick. Don't EVEH talk about MAH family loike you understand. Ya don't. Ya weren't there."

"Let go of him Wally." Zack said coolly. Wally hesitated, and Zack said in a firmer voice, "Let go of him now Wally."

"Foine, just keep him away from meh." Wally snarled, and stormed off towards the shadows. Suddenly he felt a pain in his back and he was face-down on the concrete. Zack had his foot between his shoulder-blades, and he leaned down near Wally's ear.

"Nobody, not even my damned second in command, gives me orders. Got that Wally? You attack one member of my gang, and you're easily attacking the rest of us. There are only three things you need to remember while being a Fang." Zack hissed, his charasmatic nature suddenly seemed to vanish. It was cold, and something about it made Wally's stomach coil up in fear. "One, what I say goes. No back talking me, no acting smart. I'M the boss, got it asshole? Second, unless I say so, you aren't to mess up anything for the rest of the group. You don't beat them up, you don't screw them over while they're doing something they think is fun. Thirdly, you quit and I will find you. I will find you, and I will kill everything near and dear to you."

"Good thing..." Wally spat, "That Ah don't have anythin' near to meh anymore. Ah won't ever again."

"Good boy." Zack said, his cheerful tone back. Wally was helped to his feet by Samuel, who had wandered over to them during the scene. As Wally staggered to his feet he wondered at Zack's change in character, and forboding wrapped itself around his heart.

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_**End of this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it.**_

_**Reviews much appreciated :3**_


	5. Opening Night

_Disclaimer;_

_The only things that I own are my own characters and the plot. :3 Maes is also not mine, he's Hammy's (my sis) thanks for letting me borrow him deareh! Raymond is hers too...XP_

_**Next chapter :3**_

_**I love Nigel so much. I watched operation: E.N.G.L.A.N.D. today, and laughed so hard at every part he was like; "I don't understand!" -cuddles- **_

_**Oh, and on Nigel, I have another favorite pairing now. 1/362 I watched operation: I.T. yesterday and realized that those guys together would be super cute! Made me happy, because I kind of don't like Lizzie. Maybe someday, if I have the time, I'll write something featuring them. **_

_**Anyways, what we need is for Streakz to continue with the fanfiction. Enjoy. I hope.**_

_**Oh! And there's no school tomorrow, so if I've got a lot of muse I might get up more chapters than usual. :3**_

_**Suki-chan14- I'm glad you like it! **_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- Heck yes Shinedown is awesome! They make my muse go all explody and nice. In a good way of course XD**_

_**Laurie43- Actually the TND and KND don't really know about them. Too busy fighting their weirdo baddies to care about a run-of-the-mill gang but that doesn't mean there won't be trouble in the future...**_

_**supe ario- Yes, gangs are scary. I'm excited about that too :3**_

_**XxBloodsbanexX(for both reviews)- I'd imagine so. ;D Here's my more...writing...yeah. -hands-**_

_**LaughingAngelsGibberish- Glad you like it too! XP**_

_**evemiliana- Loooong review about how much you hate Collin. -stares at beat up Collin and patches him up with a sigh- I need him fresh for his antagonizing roll, sorry. -.-u**_

_**sstoons3425- Lawl, I'll be sure to tell Zack to start being nicer to the people he thieves from...wait...that would ruin the story...**_

_**imasmurf93- Samuel is actually one of the OC's everyone should be learning more about in the near future. D.J. too. XP**_

_**Simpering- STALKER! Yeah, it's a bit depressing but I really wanted to make a hurt/comfort 3/4 fic so...yeah. DX**_

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_Chapter Five- Opening Night_

_Shit, damn, shit, damn, shit, crap, crad, crud. DAMMIT!_ Wally almost fell onto his ass as he tore around a corner. His frown turned into a full-blown scowl as he staggered and barely caught his balance. The teen glanced at the watch on his wrist and swore again, this time out loud. "Shitty, shit!"

Two young children who had been walking down the same street with their grandmother giggled at the words. The woman herself looked about ready to tip over and die of heart-attack. Wally accidentally knocked the little girl over as he ran down the sidewalk, "Owie!" She cried, bursting into tears.

"Sorry!" Wally shot over his shoulder, even though he didn't really feel that way. He was so late, aw shit he was gonna be late. Finally he saw the Night Fable, rounded the corner and almost jumped through the window in his haste. As it was, he jumped through the door and knocked Collin down hard. "Outta the way!"

"Where the HELL have you been!?" Collin screamed, "Opening time is in...TEN minutes you retard!"

"Ah know that, dumbass, that's whoy Ah was runnin'." Wally smirked a little at the look of anger on Collin's face. Just as the teen rounded the corner HE was knocked back. The boy hit the hard ground and coughed with surprise. Looking up he saw a tall man, who was looking at him with mild amusement. Another, smaller man stood behind the guy, and Phil was there too.

"Hey kid, where you been?" Phil asked, giving Wally a knowing look. Wally squirmed a little so that he was standing up. Warily he regarded the two adults who stood before him.

Wally never knew why, but he hardly ever trusted adults when he first met them.

"An'...who are these gouys?" Wally asked, shaking the bigger guy's hand firmly and shaking the other guys hand after that. The big guy was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. The other guy had on a beanie cap and wore a white t-shirt that had some band logo printed on it.

"This here is Christopher, he's the dj for the place." Phil explained, pointing at the smaller guy who gave Wally a friendly smile. "The other guy is Jean, he's our bouncer."

"Oh, roight...well...ya know what to do an' all roight?" Wally asked. Christopher gave him a look that said 'duh' and Jean merely snorted with laughter. Wally felt his temper flare slightly at that. These two thought of him as some little kid and nothing more. "Cause ya better run moy place roight or Ah'll kick ya asses to the curb."

Christopher looked irritated but a small smile of admiration crossed Jean's face. "Yes sir." Though the words seemed a bit over-kill he didn't sound sarcastic in the least. Wally quirked an eyebrow at him and moved on to the front room. It had a massive dancefloor, and a bar to the side. Collin and Wally would be serving as the barkeep for the place, and running the show of course.

Wally spotted the massive line outside the club, another bouncer stood out there and Wally had no idea who that guy was. He didn't really want to either, the guy looked a little irritated already. "We'll have to watch out for him." Wally murmured to himself, slipping passed and almost ramming into Collin again, "Dammit, can't ya not stand in the middle of the floor?"

"Can't you watch where the Hell you're going drop-out?" Collin shot back. "Look at all those hotties out there..."

"Loike any of em' be interested in ya. Oh, by the way, did ya foind that box?" Wally said with a smirk, Collin looked ready to hit him but the teen strode away to stand in front of the doors. He opened them up and the crowd cheered, somehow Wally doubted that even twenty-five percent of the people in that mass were of legal age to be drinking. Oh well, you only had to be eighteen to get inside. "Alroight, let's get goin'!"

At those words the entire block roared with cheers. The doors flew open and Wally gestured inside with a bored wave of his hand before following after them. Turns out he wasn't caught up in the excitement much.

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It wasn't so much that he was in a foul mood...okay, yeah, he was in a foul mood. Wally scowled angrily behind the counter as he poured yet another drink for the guy who was sitting at the bar. No, a more accurate term for what the guy happened to be doing was SLUMPING over. "So...you're from England mate?"

How amusing, he'd slapped on a fake accent about half-way through his sentence, "Australia." Wally said curtly, "An' Ah haven't been there for years. Don' ask meh if Ah ate kangaroo, Ah didn't."

"Really?" The guy said blurrily. Yes, the fellow was completely hammered. Wally certainly didn't envy him for the hangover he'd wake up with in the morning. The guy snorted with laughter into his drink, "Whas...your name..."

"Wallabee Beetles." Wally said, grinding his teeth.

"HEY!" The guy yelled so loudly that Wally almost jumped out of his skin. The teen narrowed his green eyes at him, struggling against his urge to slug the guy right in the face, "Heeey, like...dat band...sing it Beatles...HEEEY JUUUUUUDE DOOOON'T MAKE IT BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD..."

"Do ya'self a favor mate, an' never go on American Idol." Wally said. The guy bubbled happily into his drink and the teen heaved a tired sigh. Suddenly he was being waved down from the other side of the bar. Wally sulked over there with a scowl plastered onto his features.

"Gee, aren't you a ray of sunshine." Samuel said, beaming at him. "It's really cool in here Wally! The guys love it, and D.J.'s hamming it up on the dance floor. Hey, aren't you supposed to be getting me a drink or something bartender?"

"Ya're not twenty-one, ya aint even eighteen." Wally commented, Samuel smiled at him benignly. "Eh, whateveh, what do ya want?"

"Cola, please. Hey, I'm in a gang but I'm not insane. My dad would kick my rear end up and down the street if I came home drunk." Samuel said when Wally shot him a look of slight surprise. "He probably wouldn't be too happy to know that I was hanging out with the Fangs either but..."

"Whoy do ya hang with em'?" Wally asked, the boy blinked in surprise and shrugged his shoulders. "Ya don' loike it. Even Ah know that an' Ah just met ya!"

"Some things you get into you just can't get out of Wally." Samuel murmured, suddenly Zack lurched over to them and leaned hard against the boy. He beamed drunkenly at Wally, and waved out on the dancefloor.

"Hot...for...sing." Zack said, and staggered away. Wally and Samuel watched him go a moment.

"I...have no idea what the hell he just said." Samuel said after a moment. Wally chuckled under his breath and started to clean the counter. Ack, it never seemed to stay clean. Every time he scrubbed a spot off some bozo leaned his face against it. Which was very irritating. "I'll leave you to that. Imma gonna go scope out some ladies!"

With a rather comical wiggle of his eyebrows the teen jumped into the mass of people. Wally shook his head, and looked around. Most of the people were dancing at the moment, the guy he had served earlier was passed out on his barstool. Wally blinked, wondering what the hell he would do with the guy. That's when he turned and was suddenly face to face with somebody he was certain hadn't been their before, "SHIT!"

"Actually it's Simon." The newcomer drolled. No wonder Wally hadn't noticed him, the guy was wearing all black. He looked like a ghost or something, he was extremely pale and his hair seemed white. "So...what do you have behind the counter there bud? Anything good? Scotch?"

Wally whipped out a drink without question. The kid didn't look old enough to drink or anything but neither did anybody else in the club. He'd probably have a damn fake I.D. anyways. Simon's pale blue eyes glared at the drink in hand, "What's ya problem?"

"I didn't say I wanted it." The kid spat, but grabbed for it and sipped it anyways. Wally arched an eyebrow at him and turned away. "So, you're new in town...have you met up with that group of teens yet? You know...that little club?"

Wally stared down at his hands. Did this kid mean the Fangs? "Mmm, what group?"

"You know, the ones that terrorize those kids." Simon said, "I was wondering if you were in it, I want in too you know."

"Terroroize kids? Are ya serious? Whoy the hell would Ah want ta spend mah toime pickin' on a bunch of little kids? Ya better not be bringing dicks loike that into moy club or Ah'll kick ya ass out." Wally snarled, Simon seemed a bit surprised but a small smile crossed the pale boy's face.

"Thanks then." Simon said after a moment of staring at his drink. He took no more sips, just got up and disappeared into the crowd. Wally watched him with an annoyed expression on his face. Suddenly he was pissed off. Samuel popped up in front of him, the boy beamed at Wally.

"Who was that? Nevermind, hey could you come with me to do something?" Samuel sheepishly held up a bag that was filled with broken glass, "I..uh, dropped the Cola you got me...sorry...but could you take me out back? I've got to, you know, not carry this around with me and the Jean dude said to toss it in the dumpster."

Wally rolled his eyes, "Come on then."

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Wally opened up the door and arched an eyebrow at Samuel as he crossed the alleyway like he was inside a James Bond movie. "Dun na na na na na na na na na na..." Samuel said under his breath. Wally leaned against the door and wondered if it would be good to be irritated or amused.

"Hurry up well ya." The teen finally decided. Samuel shot him a smile over his shoulder and slammed the bag into the dumpster. Wally rolled his eyes as the kid did a little victory dance to follow up. "Samuel..."

"Coming...woah, wait!" Samuel tackled Wally and made his head hit the wall. The teen blinked and saw stars for a moment. Anger coarsed through him and he glared at Samuel who was peeking around the doorway into the alley. When Wally opened his mouth to protest Samuel hissed, "Shhhh..."

Wally went still for a moment and peered outside. D.J. had walked around back. For the first time since Wally had met her she seemed nervous, jumpy even. Wally and Samuel exchanged a quick glance, before looking back outside. Suddenly a tall shape loomed out of nowhere, and Wally's heart stuttered. Was some guy going to try and attack her?

"Finally, I've been waiting for ages." D.J. said, and the strange thing was that...well every time she spoke she always had a hint of something to her voice. Even when she was pretending to be sweet you could sense the strength in her tone, but now her voice trembled and as she strode acrossed the alley she fell into the tall guy's arms. "It's bad manners to keep a girl waiting Maes."

"Maes!?" Samuel choked, Wally glared at him but the two didn't seem to notice.

"Sorry, Raymond wouldn't leave me alone." Wally realized that the boy couldn't be much older than him. His voice was a low growl, but it was gentle for the girl in front of him. Samuel made another choking noise and fell over into the storage rack behind them. It clattered loudly, and Wally shrank back and heard the boy D.J. was seeing snarl, "What was that?"

"A really big cat, somebody please say a really big cat." Samuel prayed. Wally jumped as the door was practically torn off it's hinges. Not by the guy, but by D.J.! Her stormy colored gaze was blazing with fury, and seemed a little bluer than usual because of it.

"SAMUEL!? WALLY!?" She practically screamed. There was a note of panic to her voice. 'Maes' slid up behind her, scowling sourly at the two of them. The guy made Wally look like the happy-sunshine-feelings-guy of the year.

He was taller than Wally, which instantly irritated the Australian. Maes's hair was coal black, and his eyes were a brown color that seemed almost like a muddied red. There was a look of anger on his face at seeing them, but worry too as he glanced at D.J. Then he turned his eyes on Samuel, "Samuel...what are you doing here?"

"Ahehehe..." Samuel said and opened his mouth several times. Maes's eyes narrowed.

"How intelligent of you." Maes said dryly.

"You know each other?" D.J. whispered, glancing from Maes to Samuel in surprise, "How do you two know each other? What the hell Samuel?"

"What do you mean 'What the hell Samuel', YOU'RE the one who was all huggy-huggy just a moment ago!" Samuel squeaked, pointing at her. Maes arched an eyebrow at him. "Um...he's a friend of my family...You're mad at me...aren't you?"

"No shit sherlock." Maes said with the smallest of smiles. He glanced at Wally and said, "I think I better go. Meet me later, and Samuel...don't tag along or I'll tag-team you. Bye D.J..."

"Kay." D.J. said, clearly struggling to hide her disappointment. Maes eyed Wally and Samuel a moment before leaning down and kissing her very gently on the lips. Wally and Samuel both looked at the ceiling at this. After he had left she turned back to them with a mixture of fury and fear in her eyes, "So you like the idea of spying huh?"

"No, dude it TOTALLY wasn't that!" Samuel exclaimed, holding his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "I had to throw something away, and then I was all secret-agent-like and YOU guys showed up and it startled me and Wally and I hid."

"Why'd you hide then?" D.J. said dryly, Wally and Samuel glanced at each other, at a loss. "So, you're going to tell Zack now right?"

"No!" Samuel said hastily, while Wally only gave them a look of confusion. Finally the teen sighed.

"Okay, what the hell is goin' on? Ah'm freakin' confused." Wally said. D.J. and Samuel glanced at each other, but it was D.J. who decided it would be good to speak.

"Basically Maes is an enemy. In the eyes of Zack anyways. You see, his dad was a cop and busted Zack's older brother. Zack's brother didn't want to go to jail, so he shot himself. Zack blames Maes's family. So we hate them." D.J. gave Samuel a dry smile, "If he knew that I was in love with him..."

"Ewwww..." Wally gagged and Samuel snorted with laughter. D.J.'s reply to this was to kick him in the groin. Pain exploded down in his nether-regions, and he collapsed onto the ground holding himself and moaning softly. It took a few minutes for him to sit back up, and even then his stomach was still clenching and unclenching like he was going to throw up. "That hurt..."

"That's the point." D.J. said, "Now, as I was saying before I was oh-so rudely interrupted. If Zack knew Maes and I were seeing each other...that...that I loved him he'd kill me."

"Not kill ya surely..." Wally wheezed. Samuel and D.J. looked away, and the boy blanched at them. "Ya're not serious..."

"Want to know what happened to Jonathon?" Samuel said dryly, "Zack beat him to death with a flashlight. Only Jared and Peter were there but still. Jonathon's DEAD. You don't get it Wally. Zack means it when he says that when you're in you stay in. If you leave, if you break his rules...he'll kill you. Or worse...he'll kill somebody you care about."

"This is NUTS!" Wally said, springing to his feet, "We gotta go to the cops! He's a murderer?"

Like ghosts the images of his parents were suddenly swimming in his mind. Wally's hands clenched into fists, but Samuel and D.J. were shaking their heads. "We CAN'T Wally, Zack has very powerful people at his disposal. People you would never even believe of! There's this guy he knows that can freakin' light himself on fire. I almost shit my skirt when I met him." D.J. shuddered, "Please Wally, if we tell he'll just get bailed out again. He'll find us, he'll kill us. My brother..."

"Foine." Wally snapped, "We wait, but Ah'm gonna bring that dick down..."

"You mean it!?" D.J. said, she grinned suddenly, "Yeah, yeah that could work! If Zack's got no rank in the Fangs he looses his power! If-"

"OH! Yeah! If he takes over then things'll be good!" Samuel said, a look of wistfulness entered his eyes, "We won't be scared anymore!"

"You'll really do it?" D.J. said, staring Wally down. The teen squirmed under her look and Samuel leaped to his defense. The poor boy had no way of knowing that it would cause trouble in a short time.

"Of course he will, he's our friend. Right Wally?" Samuel beamed at him, but something inside Wally's head came to a screeching halt. Samuel's smile disappeared as Wally took on a look that resembled a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car, "Wally..."

Friends? Wally felt something squeeze painfully in his chest. No, no, no. That was too close to him. Too close. The boy's green eyes flicked between the two of them, the concern they had. No, he couldn't have friends. Wally NEVER had friends. Oh he had heard of it. How people watch each other's backs and hang out. How one feels they can relate to that person. Caring. Nobody ever cared for Wally, not that he could remember. The only two people that did ended up dead.

Dead. No, he couldn't have friends. Especially D.J. and Samuel. They were in danger, their lives were in danger. If they died it'd be another way to tear him apart. Another way to bring back the pain. The image of his parents again, the ghastly wound in his father's neck the blood on his hands as he turned his mother over.

"No." Wally said, backing away. "Ya...ya're lyin ta me!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" D.J. snapped, "What is there to have lied about-"

"Ya only want meh to loike ya." Wally snarled, his panic made it feel like everything around him was moving too slowly. Like he was going a million miles per hour but couldn't speed the rest of the world around him up. "Ya only want meh ta stick out mah neck an' get kicked outta the gang cause ya're jealous of me!"

It was an invention his mind came up with to protect his heart. Really he made it up, but even as he said it the words became true. The were setting him up. There was no murder in the gang. Wally's eyes flashed in the darkness and he turned around to punch Samuel viciously in the face. The boy fell back and D.J. yelped in surprise.

She was suddenly swinging at him, and Wally just barely dodged her punch. Fury flickered in her eyes but Wally stepped back into the storage room, "Wally, I swear to God you freaking ASShole I'm going to tear your head off!"

"Oh yeah?" Wally sneered, "Well Ah'm tellin' Zack about ya boyfriend."

D.J.'s eyes read his face, saw the truth that was in those words. Pain registered in her eyes, and she opened her mouth to say something but Wally slammed the storage door in his face and spun around. He'd tell Zack what Samuel and D.J. had said, he'd tell Zack that they lied about him being a murderer.

They'd pay for trying to get to his heart.

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_**Poor Wally, he's so unused to friendship that the idea of it terrifies him...**_

_**Of course he remembers nothing of the KND and all of his friends were part of THAT so...**_

_**Oh, and by the way, in case it was confusing, Simon was being all undercover at that part. He doesn't really like tormenting children. :3**_


	6. Power

_Disclaimer;_

_All I own are the original characters. (Except any that have been mentioned otherwise) Please don't steal them. Oh! Charlotte isn't mine either...Sophia is only half mine. :3_

_**Here it is, next chapter!**_

_**Hopefully it will be good, my muse is pretty low.**_

_**But, I felt like I had an obligation to put it up.**_

_**:3**_

_**Simpeh- (Hahaha, didn't use your display name. Take THAT XP) You stalker you...XP -cuddles-**_

_**Suki-chan14- Here you go. I'm really glad you like it. :D**_

_**super ario- -stammers- Y-yes. -cowers and hands next chapter- Just don't beat me. XP**_

_**imasmurf93- Joey's still in Australia. O.o Poor Joey, missing all the action...I might have to make him come over. **_

_**Laurie43- -flings update at you and runs like crazy- **_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- That's me, overexaggerated...I just made that into one word and I'm not gonna fix it...**_

_**faithnmanga3- Don't hate Wally, he doesn't get what he's doing. -cuddles Wally-**_

_**sstoons3425- Well...I don't think you have too much to worry about. Unless...he finds some way out of the computer! XO RUUUUNNN! -flees-**_

_**evemiliana- -heaves sigh and begins painstaking task of bandaging Collin back together- **_

_**wolfdog127(for both reviews)- Thank you, and I KNOW! I listened to that song and squealed a little bit. :3 I believe it, but apparently that doesn't matter you'd like it anyway lawl. Here's your update.**_

_**clueless c- Most of the teenagers do. Hey, there town HAS to be a little messed up, what with all the super villians running rampant. **_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- Thank you very much, I hope you like this next chapter too.**_

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_Chapter Six- Power_

It was mid-afternoon by the time he reached the hangout place where the Fangs spent most of their time. Wally ducked inside and saw Zack give him a friendly smile. The guy was sitting with his head in his hands, and winced a little at the bright light, "Hell, my hangover won't go away. Hey there Wally."

"Hi." Wally replied, glancing at D.J. and Samuel from the corner of his eye.

The reaction was iminent, Samuel flinched as though someone had struck him hard and averted his eyes. D.J. merely glared, but Wally didn't miss the look that flashed in those gray eyes. The emotion that made her turn her head away sharply and start talking to Jared in a calm voice. Fear.

No other person seemed to notice this, except for Peter who mumbled something about it under his breath and started laughing. Wally clenched his fists and looked at Zack who was tipping his head to one side while listening to some soft-spoken thing from Todd.

It was an incredibly amazing feeling. Wally loved it. He was surprised by how much the feeling made him happy. No, not happy, strong. It gave him strength. He didn't need to be watching Samuel and D.J. to feel their apprehension. Wally had their future in his hands. It was such an elation, to have control of something. To have power.

"Right, you get the big cut, second-in-command." Zack said, tossing a wad of cash at Wally so quickly that it surprised the young boy and he fumbled to catch it. Wally's eyes widened at the sight of it and Zack explained calmly, "From the raid last night. Those old-folks were packing."

Wally nodded and shoved the bills in his pocket. "So, what are weh goin' ta do today?" Wally asked casually, he felt Samuel relax behind him, even heard the boy heave a sigh of relief. Zack grinned at him.

"Ooo, now that you've gotten a taste you want more." Zack purred, "We'll let you pick. How about that Wally? You're my second in command, so you get to pick the place we hit!"

"But I want to pick!" Peter complained, Zack's reply to this was to hit him upside the head. The skinny teen scowled and ducked away muttering something darkly under his breath. "Damn little prick stealing my..."

"Todd, do your job and escort Wally to the neighborhood." Zack purred, Todd blinked his pale green eyes and walked over to where Wally was standing. The tall black haired boy nodded his head and walked out of the hiding place. Wally cast a look over his shoulder before running out of the hangout. He didn't miss the middle finger that D.J. lovingly shot after him.

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Wally whistled, these houses were bigger and fancier than the old people's home had been last week. Way bigger. Almost mansion sized, they were in the rich part of town now. As Wally walked down the sidewalk with Todd trailing after him he let his green eyes trail up and down the place.

_It's MY choice, who gets ransacked. Who looses out._ Wally thought, and actually felt a thrill of pleasure from that. Still, it vanished almost instantly as he rounded the corner and found himself face-to-face with the boy he had met last night. Maes. Wally blinked in surprise, noticing that he seemed to be standing next to an exact replica of himself. Wally glanced nervously at Todd, who seemed to have recognized them. Finally, with a smug smile curling his lips, Maes said, "Well if it isn't my good old friend Wallabee."

Wally's stomach lurched sickeningly. Well, somehow the tables had turned on that one. D.J. had obviously told Maes about the threat he had planned on carrying out. Now it seemed like HE was in a bad situation, and Maes's eyes flickered coolly as he stared at Wally. A hatred gleamed in those eyes, and Wally looked uncomfortably at Todd.

"Friend?" Todd rumbled, his blank green eyes not showing any emotion as usual. Still he glanced down at Wally and the Australian boy felt his stomach lurch, "Oh really?"

"Oh yes." Maes said darkly, that anger gleaming in his muddy-red eyes, "We go waaaay back, don't we Wallabee?"

_How the hell did he figure out my whole name? _Wally thought, feeling a little sick. Something inside his stomach said it was not a good idea to get on the bad side of this guy. He had seemed gentle, almost kind with D.J. last night. Now there was an air to him that made one word repeat itself in Wally's head. _Run. Run. Run._

"Then how come I've never seen him before?" The look-alike of Maes said, looking completely oblivious to the tension in the group. The boy smiled, he seemed much kinder than Maes even childish. Though they looked almost exactly the same his eyes had less of a hint of redness to them, "I'm Raymond, that asshole is my brother Maes. I'm guessing you've pissed him off because he looks like he's going to kill me for saying this."

"You're twins." Todd said simply, narrowing his green eyes slightly.

"Yup, though he acts like he's got a pole shoved halfway up his ass most of the time." Raymond responded, the boy suddenly broke off mid-sentence to watch a blonde girl walking down the street. Wally thought that he was literally going to start drooling. After awhile he wolf-whistled, gaining a dirty look from said girl. Raymond shrugged, "Not all ladies can take the heat."

"Most people don't like perverts." Maes snarled, still keeping his eyes locked on Wally. Creepy. "I think it's best if you go."

"Don't be rude Maes." The gentle voice startled both Wally, and clearly Todd too as he looked around in surprise, and then spotted the owner of the voice over on the porch steps of the house they were in front of.

Wally had to admit that she was very pretty. The girl was clearly related to them, her jet black hair definitely reminded him of the two brothers. Yet her eyes were a dark color, a dark gray that was almost black. They were gentle though, and she gave them a friendly smile and said, "I'm Charlotte, would you like to come inside?"

"Charlotte, we don't just ask random strangers from the street to go into the house!" Maes snarled, spinning around and glaring at her. She wilted away from him, her eyes opening so that they looked wide and innocent. Wally watched with an arched eyebrow as Maes flinched and looked away from her.

"Why not, they seem perfectly nice and you said that you knew the blonde one." Raymond pointed out. Maes floundered and Wally smirked, so the asshole got caught in his own little trap. Served him right. However when he looked at Todd he blinked in surprise.

There was emotion in his eyes. The boy was staring at Charlotte as if something had hit him in the face. Wally looked between them a moment, which made Raymond and Maes notice that the boy was staring. It was strange, the amount that suddenly leaked through the boy's usually unemotional features. Complete and total shock at first, a deep longing and then utter terror. Todd spun around and took off without a word to Wally who stared after him in confusion.

"That...was weird." Wally said after a moment, he backed up, "Look Ah gotta go. Erm, thanks for...uh, invintin' meh an' everything. TODD!"

Wally took off after the boy and found him staring at his hands a look of utter outrage on his face. Todd growled something under his breath and Wally thought that maybe he caught the words but they sounded so random in this situation (yeah, to you) that he could hardly believe them. "No such thing, no such thing, no such thing as love at first sight it's only in the damn movies..."

"Uh...you okay?" Wally asked cautiously.

Todd didn't reply, only stared blankly off into space and murmured something to himself with eyes widened with amazement. Wally heaved an irritated sigh and scanned the houses around them. They landed on a simple white one, and he wrote the number down on a piece of paper. He walked away and Todd followed after him, glancing behind him every few feet as if looking for something and shaking his head in amazement.

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**_

Todd said he wanted to go home, he wasn't feeling well. His green eyes were guarded, but they weren't flat like they had been before. Whatever, Wally thought it was probably for the better. Still, he had no idea why the girl with the black hair had surprised him so much.

Walking into the place he handed the adress to Zack. Zack stared at it a moment before a smile curled at his lips, as Wally glanced around he realized that the only people there were him and Zack. Looking at the leader of their group for a moment Wally said cautiously, "Did ya know that D.J. was datin'?"

A look of interest flashed in Zack's eyes and he looked up suddenly. "I did not. Hmmm, interesting, do you know the guy she's going with?" The look of hunger there kind of bothered Wally and he glanced away to look at the couch. Hmmm, it was such an interesting color that couch.

"A friend of Samuel's Ah think." Wally replied softly. _I can't let them be my friends, so I can't protect them like they are my friends. They're just two people I know. Nothing more._ "His name was Maes."

The bottle that was in Zack's hand clattered to the ground and shattered, making Wally jump. The teen was suddenly grabbing Wally by the shirt and slamming him against the wall. Surprise made Wally yelp, and he narrowed his green eyes in anger at Zack as the leader glared at him. Zack released him a second later and laughed, "Well, well, well. So my suspicions have been confirmed. I thought so...Though D.J. is a surprise."

"Ya knew that Samuel was his friend?" Wally said, nervously looking away. What was this feeling that clenched his heart like a cold fist. Like dread, but with the knowledge that what he had just set in motion was his fault. Guilt. Zack gave him a smile that disturbed Wally to the core.

"Of course, how many families in this town have the last name Havoc? I knew he was related to the big-wigs on top of the hill. Maybe not the richest family in town, that guys on my side, but still. Ha! And of course the Havoc's have always been tight with the police force..." Zack looked jubilant. "Now you've given me the perfect thing to make Samuel pay for hiding this from me, or trying to. AHAHAH!"

Wally really wanted to go home, but as the boy stepped closer to him Wally croaked, "What...how..."

"Because, the house you picked happens to be owned by old lady Sophia Havoc." Zack grinned a very evil grin. Wally suddenly felt sick, that couldn't be good. "She's his grandmother."

"Maybeh weh should pick a different house?" Wally offered with a nervous laugh, but Zack only laughed. He stared into the distance with his eyes focused on the roof of the warehouse nearby.

"Now, what to do with Destiny-Jane..." Zack purred, and Wally had a bad feeling that he had gotten the two into something more than he had ever bargained for. Wally backed up and Zack seemed to notice the movement, he gave the boy a friendly smile and waved him off, "You leave the planning to me Wally, I'll get this all settled out believe. Go to your club, serve some drinks..."

Wally didn't wait to hear the rest. Thoroughly shaken he ducked into the alleyway and ran for home. On the way he couldn't help but notice Todd was walking towards the street they had left earlier, but the tall boy didn't seem to notice him. It was just as well, at the moment Wally felt terrible for what he had just done. Friends or not, some people were really going to get hurt in this situation.

He didn't even know the half of it...

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**_

_**So Wally told...**_

_**What's with Todd?**_

_**XP He fell in love with Charlotte, and it startled him out of his shell. :3**_

_**-cuddles Todd- So now THREE members of the gang are involved in some way with the people Zack hates. That can't be good! **_

_**Maes is scary, but I love him. He hates Wally for threatening his girlfriend. -cuddles Maes-**_

_**What will happen? What is Zack going to do to D.J.? What about Samuel's grandma? OH NOES!**_

_**That chapter was short...**_

_**Hold tight, the 3/4 part of the story is coming. I just have to get all this underplot stuff rolling too...**_

_**XP**_


	7. Dancing Queens and Babysitting Scenes

_Disclaimer; _

_All I own are my original characters. Charlotte, Raymond, Maes, and in case I ever use her, Natasha, belong to my sister who I think calls herself Izzy Cullen on this site. Or Hammy/Hameron/Ookami. I call her Pickle though, and only I can call her Pickle. I don't know WHY I call her Pickle, there's no particular reason except that I thought she needed a nickname her big sis could use. Not that I really have to disclaim thim, since she'll never read this. I could just be a theif and claim them as MINE but I won't because I'm a good little werecat and I follow rules. Ha! _

_**That was a long disclaimer, but I'm in a ranty-rant mood today.**_

_**Don't know why.**_

_**Oh! YES I do, I have to sell two hundred fifty dollars worth of freakin' CANDY BARS by the third of March or somethin' like that. That is, in case you were wondering, two hundred fifty candy bars that Streakzy has lying around her house now.**_

_**Yeah.**_

_**So if any of you can flit on up to White Sulphur Springs Montana I'd totally sell you some candy. XP **_

_**No but seriously, how am I supposed to sell that much freakin' candy when there are only nine hundred people in the town, and fifteen kids all have to sell that much? It's mathematically impossible.**_

_**PLUS I has to do math. I hate math. Math is EVIL. More evil than ZACK even...You people that LIKE it probably understand it, whereas I, personally, do not. Stupid math. -scowls-**_

_**Simpering- -cackles gleefully- Lawl, I love the twins too. You'll have to tell Hammy that I'm doing a good job with them. :3 Great, now my head is swelling.**_

_**Suki-chan14- FWAHAHAHA! Indeed you do love it. XP I'm in a good mood today.**_

_**super ario- Bad feelings. Dun, dun, duuuunnn...**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- Isn't it romantic? I love Todd.**_

_**wolfdog127- Shadowy darkness. :3**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- The ending creeped you out? Lawl.**_

_**Laurie43- XP You seem excited...**_

_**imasmurf93- You'll have to see...bumbumbuuuum...**_

_**emerlyluff- Bursting...sounds a tad bit dangerous. -.-u**_

_**evemiliana- He told because...well, I don't think even HE knows why he told.**_

_**sstoons3425- D.J. can be scary when she's pissed, believe me. XP**_

_**Okay, all of you may have noticed that all those review answers were short.**_

_**That's because for some reason about halfway through writing these I got hit with a really weird dizzy spell. It's still going on actually. Ick...**_

_**

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**_

_Chapter Seven- Dancing Queens and Babysitting Scenes_

Wally hated himself for what he did earlier to D.J. and Samuel. How he had dangled that secret over their heads and waited until they were practically squirming. He hated himself for doing that mostly because it was happening to him now, and it was unbearable. Not that Zack was doing it to torment HIM.

Still, it was beginning to drive Wally insane, and by the end of the week he was about thirty-eight times more irritable than usual. Samuel and D.J. were avoiding him like the plague, and his car mysteriously ended up with the headlight's smashed and neat cursive writing keyed onto the back trunk that said; "You tell and I'll castrate you..."

It didn't take a genius to tell that it had been D.J. but Wally couldn't bring himself to calling the cops on her. Wasn't it his fault anyways? The boy also told himself that he'd have to watch out for the girl, and make sure she wasn't holding any sharp objects in her hand while coming up on him from behind. Ugh.

So needless to say Wally was in a rather cranky mood as he stood off behind the bar scowling furiously at the rag he was holding. Collin had vanished to who-knows-where land and that left Wally to, of course, bartend yet again. He wasn't even supposed to technically TOUCH alcohol, being under age. But he'd joined the latest trend of Cleveland and had a fake I.D. with every other teen (it seemed like) thanks to Phil.

Wally jumped when he heard a smashing noise, and whirled to see Collin fumbling drunkenly at a tottering bottle. Wally caught it an instant before it landed on the ground, and scowled at the young man. Collin flipped him off, and looked at the girl who was under his arm. Wally arched an eyebrow, she was by no means pretty. Her hair looked as if it had never been washed, and her teeth were yellow. _That would be the damn cigarette she just dropped on the floor._

Wally scowled and stomped it out with his sneaker before giving them both a death-glare. After enough drinks Wally supposed any girl would look pretty, not that Collin could do any better than this sorry excuse for a girl here. (You're not very nice Wally...) "Noice." Wally said, "Now if ya don' wanna do nothin' then ya better get ya ass away from meh before Ah shove mah foot up it. So far, in fact, that ya'll taste this cigarette Ah just stepped on."

Collin frowned and peered at him, "Drop-out'sssss threat...ing meh..." Collin giggled and slammed his fist forward in an attempt to hit Wally. He failed miserably and tottered over. Wally snarled, that was it. He was going to kick the shit out of him, here and now. Collin yelped, seeming to catch the light in his eyes, and with much more coordination than Wally expected, the young man sprinted into the crowd. Wally scowled and looked around the thin woman who was blinking in a lost way now that Collin had left.

The crowd was big, and if Wally went into it he'd have no hope of ever finding Collin at all. With a grim set to his jaw the teen climbed onto the bar. Some girl, not the one Collin had had earlier but a blonde in the corner, howled with excitement as if expecting some random show or something. Wally did her the grace of merely flipping her off, which made her gasp with horror as if he'd torn his arm off or something.

_Come on you dick, where the hell'd ya go..._ Wally thought, his green eyes narrowed as he scanned the crowd of moving bodies. Faces seemed to blend together in that wall of people, bodies became one. It wasn't a crowd but one single moving entity, all swaying to the music. Even people that had to be hammered seemed to know what steps to make. _Where the hell is Collin?_

That's when he saw it. A minor difference in the whole dance group, the strange thing about it was that this difference wasn't a running drunken man afraid of getting his ass kicked. No, the difference was one girl. She was dancing better than any other person on the floor, her hands moved to the beat at exactly the right moments. Her hips swayed to the music as if she had created it herself. Everyone else in the room seemed to just be attempting to mirror her, to copy the perfect step she had set up. The girl was dancing circles around everybody in the whole damn room. The lights caught her raven hair, and Wally stood there like an idiot gawking at her. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

And he recognized her from somewhere too.

Part of him was suddenly terrified, terrified because he had a longing to cross through that sea of people and hold her in his arms. He longed to kiss her, even though he'd never met her in his entire life. At least, he didn't think he'd met her. But that face, he'd seen it somewhere before. Could it be part of his broken past?

"HEY!" Wally jumped with surprise at the yell, and looked down into furious gray eyes. D.J. was glaring at him from the dancefloor, her hands on her hips and her eyes blazing with a fury that Wally hadn't expected. She reached out and grabbed his ankle and tore him off the counter. Wally hit the ground with a thud and gasped as the air was knocked out of him, "Damn you!"

"What the hell?" Wally choked, looking around for the bouncer. Nobody in the crowd seemed to notice, and Samuel was staring nervously at him with something like sympathy in his eyes. "D.J..."

"Don't you 'what-the-hell' me Wallabee Beetles." The girl snarled, rage making her gray eyes almost appear black in the flashing lights. "You TOLD, I know you did!"

"Ah told ya Ah would." Wally replied, feeling childish enough to stick his tongue out at her in reply. He quickly retracted said tongue when she made a grab for it as if to tear it off. (Haha...) "Zack didn't do nothin', ya loied."

"You really believe that don't you?" Samuel said softly, looking at Wally with something close to pity. He placed his hand on D.J.'s shoulder, and the girl looked at him as if she wanted to burn him alive with her eyes alone. "Look D.J. I don't think Wally understood what he was dealing with. I think...we spooked him a bit okay? The best we can do for him is to understand him..."

"Nobodeh understands meh." Wally spat, but Samuel's only reply was to look at D.J. as if this merely proved his point. D.J. narrowed her gray eyes at him, and held her knee's to her chest.

"He'll feel guilty about it if something bad happens. IF. Wally...please, you have to understand. Maybe not as a friend, but as a fellow human being, that Zack is bad. He's insane." Samuel stared Wally in the eyes, for once those hazel orbs were completely serious. No hint of laughter, if anything they flickered with an intense fear, "Whatever happened in your past to make you hate people so much you have to realize that Zack is going to seriously hurt somebody. Do you have ANY idea what he's going to do?"

"No." Wally snapped, then reconsidered at the look of dismay in his friend's eyes. Looking guiltily down at his hands he added softly, "Somethin' about ya grandma...that's all Ah know."

"Grandma Sophie?" Samuel said, and snorted as if he found something funny, "Yeah, okay, thanks Wally. I'll give the old homestead a heads up. Or, as much of a heads up as I can give them without getting my ass grounded for years...ugh, never mind. I guess I'll be grounded..."

"You don't know anything about what he'll do to me?" D.J. said softly, Wally shook his head and the girl looked around the room. Her eyes narrowed as she thought hard. "Alright, in the mean time you owe us, got it dipshit? You screwed me over, and you're going to help make sure nobody I care about gets hurt. That means that tomorrow I want you to hang out with Morton. Got it?"

"Ah have better things ta-" Wally broke off when the girl turned around. He could have SWORN the room got the teeniest bit colder at that glacial glare. "Ah...m-mean, where does the kid loike ta go hehehe..."

"I don't know, you'll have to ask him. Protect him for me though, Wally. You owe me that much." D.J. said, standing up and walking away. Samuel nodded solemnly and started to head away too. Still, the boy paused, a look of mischeviousness crossing his face. After a moment he rushed back, clambered onto the bar and looked into the crowd.

"What the hell?" Wally yelled, Samuel grinned down at him once more before giving the crowd another over-exaggerated scan again. After a moment he hauled Wally up and Wally yelped with surprise, "What-"

"Look out there." Samuel said, Wally followed his gaze, and couldn't help but be drawn to the girl who danced a little better than the rest. Samuel smirked as if he found something funny, "Ha! I knew it!"

"Ya knew what?" Wally said, but the boy didn't reply. He jumped down and Wally scowled at him feeling his anger rise towards the dark-haired teen, "Ya knew what dammit!?"

Samuel only turned and gave him another bright smile, "Look, I forgive you for what you did. Loosing people you love, it can mess with your head in a bad way. Something tells me you didn't have a person to pick you up and put you back on your feet. I don't care how much you hate me Wally, but I'm your friend."

"Ya are not!" Wally yelled, but Samuel had vanished into the crowd as well. Wally sat down on the bar and scowled furiously into the mass of dancing people. His head whirled with the day. The strange girl, and Samuel and D.J. were almost too much for him to handle at the moment. Even now he wished he could see her, but at this level she was hidden by the mass of clumsy bodies. Clumsy compared to her..."Damn cruddy girl, makin' meh stare loike that and get caught off guard."

Part of him instantly hated him calling her cruddy.

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**_

"This is the coolest place EVER!" Morton yelled, running to the jungle-gym as if it were something he'd never even seen before. The young boy clambered up onto the top of it and yelled again, "I'm king of the WOOOOORLD!"

Wally had learned about three things on this trip. Number one, Morton had only one volume, that was loud. Number two, the kid apparently didn't get out much AT ALL because he thought that the park was the most amazing place he had ever been. Number three, Morton was kind of growing on him. Not something Wally really wanted, or could even afford.

Still, there was something about Morton that made Wally long to hang out with Joey again. He hadn't seen his brother since last summer. Every summer Wally spent two weeks in Australia with his aunt and uncle. Joey was about the only person in the world that Wally could let himself care for.

Now it seemed that was starting to change. Dammit.

Samuel and D.J. were they really not friends? Would he be unhappy if they got hurt? Clearly, since he was standing here in a park babysitting some little seven year old. As he watched the kid he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of affection. Would he be unhappy if Morton got hurt? Well...yeah, the kid was just a kid.

"Beh careful." Wally advised, and added under his breath, "If ya break ya're arm or somethin' D.J. will kill meh."

"Okay!" Morton said, sliding down and scrambling over to Wally's side. He took the whole park in with wide gray eyes, and Wally felt a strange twinge of sympathy for the kid as the boy said, "I've never played with kids my own age before, do you think they'll like me?"

"Ya never played with kids ya own age?" Wally said, though he didn't know why he felt so amazed. Didn't he not have any friends in his childhood after all? Even as the thought of this ran through his head he jumped in surprise. Morton laughed at that, the little boy had slid his small hand into Wally's and started tugging. "Eh...hold on now..."

"You acted like I gave you a spark." Morton said, beaming in the way a child only does, "Did I shock you? Hahaha...Come on, I see food and I'm STARVED can we get some? PLEASE?"

It was a hot-dog vending machine that Morton had his sparkling gray eyes on. Wally searched his pocket for some of the cash he'd 'earned' from the latest job the Fangs had pulled. That one he had actually been involved in, knocking some poor unsuspecting highschooler unconcious while Zack rifled through his bag. Wally had left the kid a few tylenol, he didn't exactly feel good about punching people that deserved it.

"Why are you doing that?" Morton asked, Wally couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry at that. What was being in a gang doing to that kid socially? He was probably going to be screwed up when he was older. "We can just take some, I'll distract him..."

"No." Wally said, "Ah mean...look Morton weh can't steal all the toime. Got it? Only if Zack's there ta make ya."

"That's stupid, if you can't steal usually why steal just if Zack tells you? Because he's boss?" Morton said, his gray eyes widening slightly, "Is stealing BAD?"

"Well...yeah...but..." Wally struggled with his own conscience suddenly. He had been doing some pretty awful things of late, including putting this poor boy in danger. Stealing was bad, so it lead to reason that Zack was as dangerous as D.J. and Samuel had lead him to believe.

"Oh..." Morton said, "So...I'm bad?"

"Here." Wally snapped, handing the kid a hotdog. It seemed to shut the kid up at least. Morton hopped over to a bench and sat on it. His gray eyes looked at the groups of kids wandering around. Wally watched as Morton chewed thoughtfully on his hotdog, and looked up at him. There was a question, oh cripe here it comes...

"Have you ever heard of the Kids Next Door?" Morton asked, and scowled, "I ran into a boy on the street, and he told me I was bad for stealing from a little girl. He hit me with something, and said he was part of the Kids Next Door. What's that?"

"Probably some stupid little club." Wally said, looking away. Something bothered him about that name though, a twinge of familiarity flickered on some light in his head. "They probably think ya aren't good enough ta be part of it."

"No, he said that if I didn't steal I could join if I wanted." Morton replied, kicking his feet, "He asked how old I was. I'm seven, did you know that Wally? How old are you?"

"Old enough." Wally replied, the boy looked crestfallen and he added with a slightly irritated sigh, "Ah'm fifteen."

"WOW! Did you know that's more than twice my age? D.J. teaches me math sometimes, I'm not very good at it, but I know that two sevens make fourteen. Fifteen is more than fourteen right?" Morton smiled at him, "Someday I want a puppy. Or a cat. Jared says cats are girly pets, but I don't think so. They have claws. Ooo, but it'd be so cool to have a ferret! I'd train him to hang out on my shoulder all the time, and we'd be the best of friends. I want a ferret. Yeah, more than any pet I want a ferret."

"How noice." Wally said, his attention drifting into his thoughts. That girl cropped up again. Damn, how irritating. Why was it that he couldn't seem to escape her? Wally scowled to himself. _Maybe I should just talk to her if I see her again. Get it over with and show my head that there's no damn reason for me to be thinking about her all the time. She's just a stupid girl...where'd Morton go?_

This last thought came with some alarm, the boy had disappeared. Wally looked around frantically, only to spot him talking with some kids. Four of them to be exact, they were a bit older than him and talking in a pretty serious way. Wally walked over to them and caught the tail-end of whatever a boy with dark brown hair had been saying, "Arctic-base for cadet training..."

"Morton." Wally said, startling the kids who looked at him as though he'd eat them alive. Wally decided to scowl at them for good measure. The only boy in the group was the one with brown hair, the other three were little girls. Two of them hid behind the boy when he scowled, and the other scowled right back. "Come on...weh should go home."

"Okaaay..." Morton said, casting a look at them a little forlornly. "See you later guys."

Wally looked away as the boy walked by him. Damn, the kid looked thoroughly disappointed. Finally Wally heaved a defeated sigh and added, grudgingly, "We'll...uh, stop by the pet store on the way."

"What? REALLY?" Morton said, looking surprised, "But what if D.J. says..."

"D.J. can shove it up her ass...butt, Ah mean. If ya want a ferret ya can have a damn...erm, ya can have a ferret. Ah'll keep it at mah house if ya loike." Wally said, "Then ya can visit him."

"You're the best Wally!" Morton said, meaning it. Wally almost chuckled at that as the kid tore off down the street. Wally was sure he had enough with him to buy a ferret and a small cage for it. Why he was doing it he wasn't sure. A good reason would be that it annoyed him to see the boy so sulky. Part of his heart knew he didn't want to kid to be sad though.

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_**The 'dancing queen' is indeed Kuki, in case you hadn't guessed.**_

_**XP Wally's going to buy Morton a ferret because he's a big softy on the inside. :3**_

_**The KND thing was kind of a random last minute thing, but I thought it'd be cute if Morton became a KND member. XP I might develop the characters of the four kids later.**_

_**My RingPop looks weird...**_

_**Reviews are much appreciated, as always.**_


	8. A Tad Overprotective

_Disclaimer;_

_All I own are my own characters and the plot. _

_**ARGH! Sorry for the slow update...**_

_**The chapter is named for the song by The Fray, which gave inspiration for it so...XP**_

_**CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, CODENAME: KND, **_

**__**

Suki-chan14- I'm glad that I could brighten your day. xP

Dinosaurs R Dead- Isn't he? He's just so huggable. -cuddles and hands cookie-

super ario- Maaaaaaybe...

imasmurf93- I know, she doesn't even know about the ferret yet. -hides ferret from D.J.-

Simpering- Aren't I though -beams charmingly until head explodes- Owie, that hurt...

GonardWithTheTDL- How much would you pay exactly? Lawl...

sstoons3425- Grumpy Wally. -pokes Wally with a stick- Yup, even the really cranky people are softies inside. :3

wolfdog127- -hands you cyber-ferret of ferrety cuteness- He's a ninja.

Laurie43- I know, love at first sight...erm, well, TECHNICALLY not first sight. First sight that HE knows of. XP

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_Chapter Eight- A Tad Over-protective_

Wally jerked from his sleep at the loud sound of an alarm clock. The teen groaned a bit, and turned over. _Just go back to sleep..._Some part of his mind offered groggily. His bed was particularly warm this evening. Yes, evening, that was no typo. Wally worked the night-shift now, which meant that he slept most of the day.

Wally peered at the clock, four in the afternoon. Now why did he want to wake up this...erm, early? The boy's sluggish mind churned, trying to bring the solution forth. Ten-minutes later, after he had once again drifted into the warmth of his dream-land, he got his answer. The door to Wally's room slammed open, and he jumped with surprise.

For a week now Morton had been coming to his room around four every evening. Wally tolerated it because he had kind of gotten himself screwed over. The boy grinned at Wally, "Afternoon Wally! How's Krigare today!?"

Krigare was the strange name that Morton had decided to give his ferret. Yup, Wally had bought him the damn thing. Now Morton was picking the small weasel-like creature from his cage and draping the animal around his neck. It nuzzled their softly, and nibbled lovingly at the end of Morton's ear. The boy laughed, and stroked the sleek animal's fur. "Mmmm, Morton."

Hey, he just woke up, it was the best he could manage. Morton didn't seem to mind Wally's grogginess, and waved. The boy headed for the doorway. Wally watched him while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. This routine was the same as it was every other day of the week had been. Morton came to the room dressed as if it were thirty-million degree's below outside, grabbed his ferret, and took off with his new friends.

That ferret's training was coming along quickly too. It would ride on Morton's shoulder already, and it's eyes glimmered with intelligence that almost bothered Wally. He'd found the damn thing on his bed more than once, even if he'd locked the cage. It seemed that Morton had quite the way with animals.

Wally glanced at the clock again. He yawned once more, before resetting the alarm for later and curling back into his bed. No time like the present to get some well-deserved sleep. It wasn't very long before he was back in that lovely place called dreamland.

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Wally glared silently at the counter-top. The scowl on his face was becoming such a permanent part of his features that the people he did see around him would have probably stared if he smiled. Wherever the hell Collin was, he better stay away from Wally tonight. He was just itching to draw some blood.

The Aussie somehow managed to deepen his scowl, and rubbed vigorously at the counter-top. There wasn't any particular reason he was angry, it was just a strange sense of premonition that descended on him an hour or so ago. Sometimes this happened, when he sat there ready to punch people in the face without anything to set him off. He could just feel his energy reaching the point where he knew that if somebody said something somebodies head would roll.

"H-h-hey there!" Peter's voice made Wally tense his muscles instantly. Violence was thrilling through his blood, but he couldn't punch the weasely guy for just saying hello. Wally lifted his green eyes and gave the thin teen a death-glare that would have gotten even an idiot to back down. Peter wasn't an idiot, he was worse. The guy gave him a toothy grin, "You working?"

"No, Ah'm out back readin' books." Wally replied sarcastically. Peter only gave him a bland look that irritated him. "Leave meh alone, Ah'm busy Peter."

"I'm here for a drink." Peter giggled, "Okay, so maybe that isn't exactly what I'm here for. Check this out..."

Peter's skinny hand opened to reveal several pills. Wally narrowed his eyes and looked the druggy up and down. Finally the teen heaved a tired sigh, "Ya wanna get hoigh then leave meh outta it." Wally snarled, looking down. Peter giggled again as if he found this amusing, and waggled his long fingers at Wally.

Wally turned his back on the bar and busied himself with checking to make sure the glasses were clean. The teen couldn't help but smirk as Collin was shoved behind the counter by Phil, who gave Wally a friendly wave before backing off. Good, about time that dick pulled his weight around here.

Wally pulled himself away from the bar. They were running low on some of the drinks, and he would have to slip away to get the goods to refill it. The teen heaved a sigh.

* * *

_**Kuki**_

She really wasn't supposed to be here. The mission had ended quite awhile ago, but Kuki had discovered that she loved this place. The music here was fantastic, right now Electric Feel by MGMT was blaring through the sound system. The oriental girl made her way towards the only place she hadn't been in the club yet. More out of curiousity than anything else, she found herself standing by a rather ratty looking fellow near a bar.

The guy behind the counter was young, but he had a look about him that Kuki disliked immediately. The way he looked at her, blech, it felt as if he were trying to undress her with his eyes or something. Kuki wished she had the smart mouth her friend Abby did suddenly, but she found herself politely averting her gaze to look at her hands.

"Well now, hello there beautiful." The guy behind the counter said. Alright, so it turned out Night Fable had a drawback. For all it's wonderful club-goers and the amazing dancing and music there was a jerk manning the bar. Not too much of a problem, Kuki didn't like alcohol. "What can I get you? Besides myself that is, I'm Collin."

"Nice." She replied, and left it at that. Ooo, how thrilling, his eyes flashed a little at her stomping of his introduction. Kuki continued with an excited giggle, "Just soda please, you serve that don't you?"

"Just soda? A good girl then?" The ratty looking boy said, he looked friendly enough but he was kind of creepy. Kuki let out a nervous laugh as the-jerk-Collin slammed her drink in front of her. The ratty boy pushed his glasses up his nose and said with a kind of twitchy glance over his shoulder, "That's nice. Values are something all people should respect. I'm Peter."

"I'm...Kuki Sanban." As much as she'd like to get away from this Peter her politeness kept her seated. Hey, she could be a rude girl sometimes, but this Peter hadn't done anything. She couldn't bring herself to hurt his feelings when he hadn't done anything wrong. She turned away from the counter to look at the dancing crowd.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Wally**_

Wally managed to load a cart with alcohol and was making his way to the bar when he spotted her. The teen froze in his spot, and his heart did a little thudding that made him almost feel sick. It was the dancer, the one who lead everyone from before. She was sitting at the bar, with her back to the counter. She didn't seem to be thinking of anything, just staring into the dancing crowd in the way somebody does when they daydream.

There was no way in hell he was going over there. Not with her sitting there. No, she did things to him that frightened him. He hated being scared, being scared made him pissed. Wally was pissed enough as it was tonight. The teen began to back away, and froze again. Not because of surprise this time, but because of the surge of overwhelming fury that suddenly shook him.

Peter was leaning over the girl's drink, his thin fingers placing in the three pills he had in his palm from earlier. Wally's fists clenched and he felt himself starting to tremble. That's what those were? Not to get Peter high but date-rape drugs? In HIS bar? Not only that, but it was the girl. Peter was drugging that beautiful girl. Dammit NO, not her. Not that girl. A surge of protectiveness shook him, and caught him off guard. Why protective, when he had never met her? Dammit, who gave a shit?

Wally found himself striding to the bar with a different purpose than he ever expected to have. His heart thudded with every step, and he felt so much anger that he thought for sure he'd kill Peter when he reached him. Wally couldn't remember ever having felt so much rage in his entire life. The Australian grabbed Peter by the shoulder, spun the barstool so that the boy was facing him and grinned evilly. Part of him had been waiting since the day he had met this asshole to do this.

Wally pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into Peter's face before the thin teenager could even register what the hell Wally was doing. Wally grinned with satisfaction as he felt the bones in Peter's nose crush painfully. He'd put as much rage as he could, as much energy as he could summon with that anger, into that punch. Peter yelled and fell back off the barstool, knocking the girl down.

Wally didn't stop, he hauled Peter to his feet and slammed him against the bar. Peter cried out in pain as Wally gripped the guy by his arm and twisted it back so that it was positioned at a terribly awkward position. Peter struggled, and cried out in pain as the bones in his arm grinded together. Wally was so furious he could hardly speak. The drink the girl had ordered had spilled all over the counter, covering the boy Wally held down in sticky brown liquid. Peter sputtered and coughed as it got into his nose.

"Never..." Wally snarled, feeling his anger finally take into words. "Never touch her, you got that dick-face? Ah'll kill ya if ya do, Ah swear it."

As he spoke the words part of him realized with a thrill of terror that he meant it. If Peter every harmed a hair on mystery-girl's head Wally would hunt him down and kill him in a blaze of righteous fury. Peter whimpered, "Chill man, I was only going to have some fun alright? Just...let go-OW! OW!"

"Ah outta break ya arm." Wally growled, twisting said appendage in his strong grip. Peter wailed, and started to plead. "Outta mah bar, ya aint aloud here anymore Peter. If ya get caught, Ah'll call the cops. Now get before Ah change mah moind an' kill ya here and now."

Wally released him and kicked Peter as the boy ran out. Peter stumbled because of it, and ate shit on the floor. The skinny teen struggled to his feet and took off running. Wally felt a thrill of slightly sickening satisfaction at the terror on his face. Teach him to ever try and drug a helpless girl again.

* * *

_**Kuki**_

Kuki Sanban couldn't believe her eyes. One moment she had been watching the dance idly, letting her mind drift to her homework assignment that was still at home. The next she had been rudely shoved to the ground because that Peter guy had been punched in the face. He fell on her, and then he'd been hauled in the air by the newcomer at the bar.

That was what she couldn't believe, even as she sat on the ground staring after Peter. Kuki's mind spun and she stared up at the tense-shouldered teen who had just exploded on the guy for hardly any reason. She knew the instant she heard that voice, heck she knew when she saw him haul Peter in the air. It was Wally.

_After all that time we spent looking for him, he ends up right here?_ She thought, staring up at him. Oh he had changed in the years. The obvious thing was that he was taller. She could tell he had a few inches on her, even as she was sitting on the ground. Maybe it was because she was drinking in his prescence the way she was. His hair was the same, blonde and hanging in his green eyes. He was even wearing a hoodie that was the same color as the one he had as a kid.

He seemed more violent somehow, at least at the moment. What a strange thought. She had always known him to be an aggressive person, but that kid had been attacked for no reason...or so she thought. Kuki watched in open-mouthed surprise as he turned to look at her for the first time since he violently came onto the scene.

_He's confused._ She thought, as he looked at her with his head tipped to one side. It was when he turned to face her that she realized the other difference her friend had. Her tears started to fall when she noticed it too. Wally's eyes were sad, and guarded. As if he couldn't let the world in. Even now he was regarding her almost warily, as if he were afraid she would bite him or something.

"Uh..." He said, letting out a nervous laugh. "Look, Ah didn't mean ta make ya cry."

Kuki's chest ached. Oh, he had the same accent and everything. Even though his voice had gotten considerably deeper in his teen years it still had that heavy Australian tinge to it. Kuki gazed up at him and struggled to find something to say. _Oh Wally, I've missed you so much._ She thought, tears falling from her eyes and spilling on her hands. _I've been looking everywhere for you, and I love you. Say it Kuki, please..._

"Why'd you hit him?" Her mouth ignored her, how infuriating. Though it probably made more sense, she doubted that most people would take somebody getting on their hands and knees and begging them to take you away and marry you as something completely and totally normal.

"He was gonna hurt ya." Wally said darkly, Kuki felt a rush of warmth as he turned and glared in the direction of Peter, "That dick was gonna drug ya...listen, ya shouldn't leave ya drinks out where people can get em'."

"Oh...right." Kuki said. _I want to hug the life out of you like I used to, you've just saved my life..._ She thought, struggling not to spring from her position on the floor into a glomp-attack that would probably end the poor boy's life. Oh her heart, it hurt to see him look so sad like that. So unhappy, but she'd found him. She'd found Wally.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Wally**_

God dammit she was beautiful. Wally's heart almost ached with longing as he stared at her. That urge to gather her into his arms rose up so strongly that he was surprised he didn't just scoop her up off the floor. Oh, right, she was on the floor. Wally coughed and held out his hand to her. "Uh...ya probably don't wanna stay down there."

His eyes locked with her's, and he felt his heart jolt in his chest at the sight of them. Violet, a deep and stunning shade of violet. He'd never seen eyes like that on any person in the world, and they were swimming with so much emotion. Happiness, some sadness too, and a longing that made Wally's heart thud a little harder in his chest. She slid her hand into his and he pulled her gently to her feet.

"Thank you-" She stopped abruptly, as if she had to stop herself from saying something. Her eyes were shining with emotion as she gazed up at him and she said, "My name...is Kuki. Kuki Sanban."

It was strange, but the way she said it made Wally wonder if she wanted him to remember something. Wally gave her a grim half-smile and held out his hand for her to shake. He tried not to think of how her soft touch made his fingers go warm, "Wallabee Beetles. Calm meh Wally."

"Listen Wally..." She said, and Wally's heart filled with a mixture of longing and dread. "Maybe we should talk with each other, I've got something that I think might be important...what I mean is...I'd like to discuss..."

"Sorry." Wally said, curtly. Shut it down boy. He withdrew, realizing with a jolt that he had been holding her hand still since he had started shaking it. The teen turned and went behind the counter, "Ah'm busy. Go dance, it'll make ya feel better. If ya want ya can file a report against Peter..."

When he turned around he stopped talking. Pain flashed in her eyes, and she ducked into the crowd. Wally's heart tore a little, but he forced himself to look away. _She's nothing, just a girl you randomly met. Nothing, calm down._ His head said that, but his heart was singing as if it had found the one thing it had been searching years for.

* * *

_**So they finally meet!**_

_**Will Kuki ever get Wally to talk with her?**_

_**Will his fight with Phil bite him in the tushie?**_

_**:3**_


	9. Something Familiar

_Disclaimer;_

_All I own are my original characters and the plot. Everything else belongs to their respective owners..._

_**HUZZAH!**_

_**imasmurf93- Oh know right? Creepy little Zack messing everything up. -glares at evil character-**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- I love that he's like that too. He has no idea WHY but eh...that's what makes it fun to write. **_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- Indeed Peter can...Random makes the world go square, so don't worry about it. :3**_

_**super ario- You were right. You read my mind...GET OUTTA MY HEAD! -flees-**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- I will, thank you.**_

_**wolfdog126- Lawl, here is your update then. -hands- 'n you're welcome.**_

_**Suki-chan14- I'm glad you love it. -writes chapter- Here you go...**_

_**sstoons3425- Yup, just like old times indeed. -smirks at Wally-**_

_**Laurie43- Hehehe, thank you. -tosses chapter at you-**_

_**LaughingAngelsGibberish- Hope this was soon enough for you. XP**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Nine- Something Familiar_

Wally grit his teeth and came to a decision. The teen ducked into the crowd, and followed after her. Just in time to watch her slip out the door. Wally slid out into the night air, and saw her running down the street. Wally grimaced, thinking of Peter, and took off after her. The poor guy would have probably run passed her, if it hadn't been for the fact that he heard her crying.

Wally stumbled to a stop and just kind of stood there feeling a little helpless. Kuki was sitting on the curb of the sidewalk, her face was buried in her hands and her shoulders shook with sobs. _Great, I made her cry._ Wally thought with a pang of guilt. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and tapped her shoe with his foot. Her shoulders tensed up, and she looked up at him in surprise.

"Oh..." Kuki said, and laughed a little. "I'm sorry, I'm alright. I'll just be going..."

"Look." Wally snapped, cutting her off and making her eyes grow wide. "Ah didn't mean...what...listen..."

Wally groaned inwardly. He'd always kind of sucked at social situations, and ever since his parents had died he'd gotten way worse at talking to people. Wally was a person of action, not words. Besides, he couldn't exactly figure out WHY she was crying over him anyways. Had she been asking him on a date? Wally's cheeks flushed red at that thought. Oh crud, he'd never been on a date before, or turned a girl down from going on a date. How did you do that?

"No, no! It's alright!" She said, looking down at her shoes again. Wally winced at the disappointment in her tone of voice, "I should have figured, you only just met me and I asked to have a talk with you and..."

Wally grimaced. Great, now he'd embarassed her. He sat down by her on the sidewalk. Kuki stopped talking and glanced at him in alarm, "Ya wanted ta talk with meh." He said, "Ah'll sit here and talk with ya."

"I..." Kuki blinked, "Thank you Wally..."

"Eh." Wally replied, looking away and glaring at the dark city around him. A silence stretched between them, and Wally had the feeling that Kuki didn't even know what to say. _Well that's weird, since you're the one that wanted to talk to me._ Wally thought moodily, glancing over at her. He realized with a jolt that she was watching him with a little bit of sadness in her violet eyes, "Erm...so...ya loike dancing?"

"Oh, yes." Kuki said, jerking as if brought out from a trance or something. "You're club has very good music, and I have fun there. It has a nice atmosphere. It's also nice to know that you've got a hero waiting in case a jerk wants to drug you or something...hehe.."

"Oh...yeah." Wally laughed and rubbed the back of his head, "Ah was feelin' a bit on edge anyways...eh, Peter deserved a punch or two. Did ya see the way he ran out? Heh!"

"You're very good at fighting, if that can be considered a compliment." Kuki said lightly, giving him a friendly smile. In fact it seemed to be almost sentimental, as if she were remembering something. "So...Wally where have you been?"

"Huh?" Wally asked, she glanced away looking embarassed. "Ya figured out Ah used ta live here? Mmmm, Ah lived in Montana for awhoile, after mah parents doied."

"Montana?" She smiled, "Was it nice up there?"

"Ah guess, not much ta do unless ya're in the bigger towns." Wally shrugged his shoulders and stared blankly off into the darkness. What was the point of this conversation? It seemed like small-talk to him, and a little pointless too. Still, she seemed genuinely happy so he thought it would be best to stay. _Since when do I care?_ He thought, a little alarmed. _Why give a rat's ass if she's in tears or smiling?_

He didn't have that answer for himself. Kuki looked over at him, worry in her violet eyes. _Why do YOU care for that matter? I've only just met you but you keep looking at me as though you pity me or something._ Wally thought, tightening his hands into fists. He didn't need somebody's pity.

"Wally..." Kuki said, and got to her feet. "You really don't remember? Of course not, how stupid of me. Look, I want you to meet me...at the park tomorrow. Alright? I want you to meet some people that would probably like to see you. Please..."

"Ya keep confusing me." Wally said, "And Ah gotta watch...foine, Ah'll come."

He decided to because panic had flickered in her eyes. Kuki smiled at him and his heart stuttered at the sight of it. "Good, I'm glad. I'll see you at noon tomorrow, okay? And...Wally?"

Wally blinked, he had started to turn away, ready to leave. Now he turned back to her with a questioning look on his face. Kuki smiled, a very happy smile, and said, "I've missed you."

With that the girl turned and headed off into the darkness. Wally stood in the light of the street-lamp, wondering what she meant by those words. He also wondered...why it was that he felt so relieved that she ever said them. Wally scowled, but it was a half-hearted scowl, and he walked back to his club.

* * *

_**Kuki**_

Kuki looked over her shoulder at her two closest friends. Abby was casting her brown eyes around the park with a small smile on her face, and Hoagie was chattering endlessly about the superb taste of the chili-dog he had in his hand at the moment. Kuki giggled at the sight of them, and it drew the attention of her team leader.

"What is it you want Abby and Hoagie for anyways girl?" Abby said, narrowing her eyes. Kuki grinned. She hadn't been able to find the words to explain her running into Wally, so she had decided to make it a surprise.

She could only hope that this meeting didn't go horribly wrong. There was something different about Wally. He was closed off, and even as he spoke with her yesterday he seemed surprised at himself for his actions. Kuki felt a rush of guilt at that. His friends hadn't been there for him in the hardest time of his life, and because of that he couldn't let people in. Determination flashed in her violet eyes. _I'll fix that._

"It's a surprise I think." Hoagie said, "Kuki's been giggling every five feet as if she's going to give us a puppy. HEY! I love puppies, did you get us a puppy?"

Hoagie grinned at Kuki as if the mere thought of a little dog made him happy. Kuki laughed at her friend and rounded the corner, she almost ran into a little boy. He yelped, and stepped back with surprise. Kuki blinked, she just realized he had..."A FERRET!" She squealed, and before the little boy could react she'd plucked the furry animal from his shoulder and was cuddling it.

"Heey!" The little boy said, almost falling down. "Krigare!"

"Is that his name?" Kuki gushed, pressing her nose against the ferret's. It chattered at her happily and she giggled, "How cuuuuute!"

"Kuki, give the kid his pet." Abby said with a nervous chuckle. The boy was looking at Krigare in surprise, and the ferret looked at him in a way that was almost apologetic as he leaped from Kuki's arms onto his shoulder. Abby winced a little as the boy glared at them in that untrustful way many children glare at teenagers.

"No harm meant, Kuki just likes to cuddle soft things." Hoagie said, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. The boy continued to glare at them a bit before darting back to hide behind...Wally. Kuki blinked, she hadn't even noticed him coming up, and when her other two friends saw him they just stared.

"You came." Kuki said, just realizing that she had almost expected him not to show up. Wally's eyes were even more guarded than they had been last night, and he looked at Abby and Hoagie as if they would leap at him and tear his throat out or something. Kuki winced and added, "Who is this?"

Wally blinked, and looked down at the boy that had hidden behind him. "He's...Morton." Wally finally said, and the boy peeked around him and graced them with a smile for the first time. He jumped out and held his hand out for Hoagie to shake. Hoagie didn't shake it, on account of the fact that he was looking at Wally in utter shock still. Wally blinked uncomfortably, "Aren't ya gonna introduce us."

He spoke uncomfortably, as if he didn't like the situation he'd been put in. Kuki blinked and realized with a rush of embarassment she'd forgotten to mention her two friends since running into him. It was kind of confusing, since they used to be such close friends when they were younger.

"Abigail Lincoln." Abby said, offering her hand. Wally looked at it as if it would bite, but slowly shook it. Abby glanced at Kuki and said in a tone of voice that told her that her team leader was a bit irked at the way she had set this up, "Kuki left out the fact that we were meeting a friend of hers."

"Yeah." Hoagie said, clearly still shaken. Kuki winced at the look on his face, he was so hopeful. "I'm Hoagie, nice to meet you."

"Wally." Wally replied curtly, and looked away. Kuki felt like the situation was slipping away from her, she had hoped that they would have all gotten along but it seemed like Wally was ready to attack his friends. Morton was looking between the two groups when he suddenly broke into an innocent smile.

"Wally's my best friend!" Morton said, Wally tensed visibly at this but didn't say anything to protest. Morton smiled, "He hangs out with me, aaaaand he got me a spot with my new friends...but I can't tell you about that. He got me Krigare! Isn't he cool!?"

"You're best friends with a little kid." Abby said, sounding a little amused. Wally glanced at her and looked ready to say something nasty but seemed to realize that she was teasing at the last second. He looked confused, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Why shouldn't he be? Not all teenagers are poo-poo heads." Morton stated simply. Kuki couldn't help but notice he had a backpack that said 'KND' on it. She smiled a little and nudged Hoagie. He blinked, noticed it as well and grinned. Morton looked at them as if they were really weird, and ran off to go play in the park.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Wally**_

Wally watched Morton go and slightly wished the kid would stay. At least he made things less awkward. There was a strange tension in the air between him and the three people who stood only a few feet away. The sense that he was forgetting something important seemed to hang in the air like a thick cloud.

"So...what do you do for fun then?" the boy named Hoagie asked, a hopeful smile making it's way acrossed his features. Wally could tell right away that he wasn't exactly the kind of person who would hang out with somebody as aggressive as himself. This Hoagie kid didn't look nerdy persay, but he had a smarty-pants air to him.

_He likes keeping things simple._ Wally thought, and had no idea why it even popped into his head. "Ah run around with a group of people when Ah don't work." Wally said, deciding to leave it at that. He didn't know why, but he didn't want these three knowing he was part of a gang.

"You work?" Abby said, raising an eyebrow and looking genuinely surprised. Why? Did he look like a lazy person to her? Wally shot her a glance of irratation.

"HEEEEEEEEY!" Wally tensed his shoulders and the three people he was talking to looked around in surprise as Samuel suddenly sprang into the group with a big smile. "Who are these people? Hey Wally, check it out this girls kinda cute, is she that person you've been mooning over I beeet soooo..."

Wally hit him in the head with his fist and Samuel grimaced. "Knock it off..." Wally said, annoyance finding it's way into his voice. Samuel held the top of his head and looked at him like a wounded puppy. "What the hell are ya doin' here anyway?"

"What, it's a park. Sheesh you didn't have to hit me that huuuuurt." Samuel whined, clutching at his head as if Wally had taken a mallet to it or something. Wally snorted angrily and turned to look at something more amusing than that pathetic looking teen. Samuel added, "Oh, I'm Samuel by the way. Don't talk to Wally, he's an abusive jerk."

"Ah'm not freakin abusive, ya're just an annoying ass." Wally shot back. Samuel only stuck his tongue out at him and looked out over the sidewalk.

"You're nice." Kuki said with a giggle. Wally felt an unexpected rush of jealousy at those words, and turned to give Samuel a whithering death-glare as the boy leaned forward and kissed her hand in a flourish. Wally hit him on the head again. "Wally!"

"He's annoying, not noice." Wally grumbled, glancing away. Hoagie laughed as if he found this incredibly amusing and Wally couldn't exactly figure out why. Samuel rubbed at his head and Wally added, "Ya wanted meh to meet with ya friends..."

"Just so you could meet them. I thought they'd like you." Kuki said with a beaming smile. Wally almost groaned out loud at the sly smile that crept acrossed Samuel's face. Wally glared as the boy leaned against him and chuckled in a way that was almost evil.

"Oh, getting introduced to a girl's friends. So when exactly did you talk to each other?" Samuel whispered, Wally rewarded him by hitting him in the head for the third time. Samuel cringed and held his head, "Would you knock that off! I'd like to keep my brain intact thank you very much..."

"Stop sayin' stupid shit and Ah'll consider it." Wally snarled back. Samuel stuck his tongue out at him again. Wally turned to Hoagie and pointed at Samuel, "Ah heard ya say somethin' about wantin' a puppy. Take him, he's free. Though a puppy's probably easier to take care of."

"I think he's a bit too high-strung for me." Hoagie said with an easy-going laugh. Wally smiled and something he caught at the last second. He noticed that Kuki's eyes lit up at the sight of that smile, and he felt a prickle of unease at that. _These people are all worming their way in...__**Kuki**_

* * *

She decided she liked this Samuel person. Wally didn't even seem to notice how at ease he had become just since the other boy's arrival, and he seemed nice. Wally even SMILED and she couldn't help but notice the look of amusement on Samuel's face when the other teen noticed it as well. Wally seemed to have noticed and forced a scowl onto his features.

"Aren't you precious." Abby said sarcastically, Wally snorted and looked away. He looked a little panicked, but he didn't look like he was going to bolt at any second either. Kuki jumped as she realized that Samuel was standing close to her.

"I think you're the one who did that." Samuel said, pointing. Wally had suddenly been shoved playfully by Hoagie, who was now running around the park just an arms-length away and trying to avoid getting pummeled. Wally chased after him, but he didn't look as furious as she was sure he wanted to, "I heard about what happened tonight from one of my friends...listen. I think it's a good thing for you to be around Wally. I've NEVER seen him like this before, ever. I've gotten close to making him feel comfortable around people but..."

"We should have been there for him earlier." Kuki said sadly, Samuel glanced at her oddly.

"Alright, so you're my partner!" Samuel said, laughing and striking a pose. Kuki blinked at him in surprise and laughed a little. Samuel had the appeal of a friendly big brother, "We can get him to let people in, but you've got the biggest job. Convincing him that he's fallen in love with you."

"Wh-what?" Kuki stammered, blushing with surprise. Did he really think that Wally was in love with her? Hoagie yelped somewhere in the background as he was tackled to the ground and Wally hit him on the head the same way he hit Samuel.

"Break it up boys." Abby said, prying them apart and laughing. Wally snorted and stormed off as though he hadn't enjoyed that little moment at all. Kuki couldn't help but notice the happiness in his eyes, and her heart throbbed for joy. What if Wally had fallen for her? It would be all her dreams come true...

"I'll do my best." She said softly, and Samuel beamed.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Wally**_

_You all...I feel so...dammit this is so confusing._ Wally thought, he was actually having fun. He was ENJOYING himself. When had he last done that with people? Wally grimaced and looked away. If he let these people in something would happen to tear them apart. You can't make friends.

"Look, Ah should be going." Wally said finally, making the three look over at him. Samuel frowned and looked ready to protest but his eyes widened with surprise before he could say anything. Wally looked at him, "What the hell is ya're-"

Something hit him in the back of the head. Hard. Wally rolled over, trying to blink his now blurry vision away. He caught the next attack in his hands, and realized with a jolt that it was D.J. The girl was practically steaming with fury, and her eyes were blazing. Wally blinked in surprise as Abby grabbed her and flipped her over so that she wasn't near Wally anymore. D.J. landed in the grass and scrambled to her feet.

"Back off bitch." D.J. snarled at her, Abby narrowed her eyes at the girl and didn't move. D.J. turned her eyes on Wally, they were filled with rage, and looked more silver than gray at the moment. "Call your dog off unless you want it to get killed."

"Excuse Abby!?" Abby yelled, looking incredibly pissed. D.J. sighed and rubbed at her temples with her right hand while waving Abby off with her left.

"I apologize for my rude behavior." D.J. said in a tone of voice that said she wasn't sorry at all, "I'm just terribly pissed at the boy you happen to be standing in front of right now and if you don't move your ass you're likely to take the brunt of some of that anger. Now Wally, would you be kind enough to tell me where the HELL my little brother is?"

Wally froze, and looked around. Morton wasn't anywhere in the park, and he felt a wave of sudden sickness. D.J. skirted passed Abby and landed in front of Wally with a scowl on her features. "Ah...don't know..." Wally said, worry suddenly panged at his heart. He got up and ran off in the direction he saw Morton go.

* * *

_**Oh no! Where did Morton go!**_

_**D.J. and Abby didn't get off on the right foot at all. -.-u**_

_**But at least Wally's opening up a bit! XP I love Hoagie so much, and I could so picture him running away from Wally while cackling with glee. **_


	10. Violence

_Disclaimer;_

_I own only my characters and the plot. Some aren't mine...and some are...I mentioned the ones that weren't mine way earlier so pheh on you._

_**First I must apologize for the wait. I got a REALLY good book and I just couldn't seem to put it down. :3**_

_**Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams. Those of you that like cats should really check that out, Simp told me about it and it was just FANTASTIC! Gah! I'm still coming off my high! It's like a Watership Down for cats! Truly amazing book...**_

_**Anyways, on with the thing you guys care about, which is the story...I think. O.o**_

_**My cat...walks really loud. Seriously, he just like...STOMPED down the stairs or something. I thought my little brother was coming down here and I was all 'What are you doing up so late, it's eleven thirty at night!' (hypocrisy) then it was my cat and I was like 'WOW you are a loud little fatty aren't you?' This said in the most loving of ways of course. -cuddles cat-**_

_**wolfdog127- -cackles evilly- YES Morton you mean! -rubs hands together while bwahahaing-**_

_**super ario- More tension for you! -throws at your head- Poor Morton, don't damn him...-cuddles-**_

_**Simpering- Lawl, glad you're stoked my friend. Hopefully this next chapter isn't too...over the top. Blech, I read it and I was like 'This is...odd Streakzy' but then I just shrugged and couldn't figure a way to rewrite it so bleeeeeh...**_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- I don't think Wally'll screw it up...ermies -peeks ahead- Ehehehe...**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- -tosses you chapter and flees while laughing in a way that can safely be deemed as insane-**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- I still get a kick out of that pen-name...lawlz...dinosaurs...-ish distracted- Huh? Oh, yeah, Abby is totally awesome-sauce material. All karate butt-kicking candy-hunter chick! FAAA!**_

_**PoisonChrysell- Oh my! Thankies! X.x Here you go, I'm keeping these up way better than anything I've written so far! XP **_

_**sstoons3425- He does, little Wally. Open your heart Wally-kun! -cuddles-**_

_**imasmurf93- Samuel, gah, I love the way he's turned out. He's so fun to write :3 I should do something to make him angry though, he's so cool when he's pissed, only you guys don't know because he's such a big softie...**_

_**Laurie43- Morton, everybody is worried about you! Lookit that, they all want to know where you went! -pats Morton-**_

_**Numbuh 321- Nigel? Oh, somewhere in outerspace doing outerspacey things...Maybe Deej and Abby will make up? XP**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Ten- Violence_

_**Morton**_

It had been awful. One moment he had been running in the park with Krigare, going over the special battle moves they'd learned earlier that week and the next he had been thrown into...this place.

Morton had been slipping away and getting rides to the Arctic Base once a week, and the nice pilot lady always brought him back home before his family started worrying. He LOVED being part of the Cadets Next Door, and the recruiter guy said that as soon as he started remembering everyone's codenames he'd probably graduate to being a Kids Next Door operative. Morton had an uncanny way with animals, and Krigare was actually used in a lot of his fighting tactics. Morton had always liked animals, and the hamsters he had met were pretty cool too. He used to think rats were AWESOME...

Here, in the darkness that was only penetrated by the flash of ratty eyes he didn't think they were so awesome anymore. Morton whimpered, his face was pressed against the cold concrete and he couldn't sit up. Because...he was tied? Yes, that must have been it, he couldn't move his arms or legs. Not that he wanted to, his arm hurt too much.

What had been awful again? Oh, right. He had been thrown in here. Morton had been playing in the sandbox, doing a couple awesome ducks and rolls he'd learned, when a pair of strong arms had loomed from nowhere and grabbed at him. Then a bag had been put over his head, and he'd been thrown into...a car or something. Then when they got here the bag was ripped from his head so violently that some of his hair was pulled out with it, and then he was tossed into the basement.

Literally tossed, as in the person who was kind enough to pluck him from the park didn't even walk down the stairs first. The fact that he wasn't knocked unconcious or even killed by it was because he'd landed on his side. The door had slammed shut behind him, and he had been left for a good five minutes before he dared to even think of his situation.

"What happened?" He said, only for the sake of hearing a voice. It scared the rats, they made some high chattering noises and scattered. Morton shifted a little as he felt the lump in his pocket stir, and the slender form of Krigare slid out. The ferret was blinking blurrily, he had probably been knocked unconcious for lack of air when the big person had picked him up. "Krigare, you okay?"

Krigare chattered nervously, and Morton winced as he automatically flexed his fingers. Oh, his hand was covered in something warm and sticky. It made his skin itch. His ferret sniffled delicately at the ropes, but Morton doubted he'd be able to chew through them, at least not fast enought to make a difference.

He was so scared. _Be brave Morton, like a Kids Next Door operative._ He thought, but his hand was beginning to throb with agony. The broken arm was pinioned beneath his body, and he was afraid that if he moved it would hurt more. As it was it felt agonizing right now. Morton shuddered with pain, and burst into tears.

* * *

_**Wally**_

No where in sight. Damn that kid. Wally was probably going to be murdered because of this. The teen ran his hand through his blonde hair, trying to convince himself that the reason his stomach was so knotted up over this was for his own sake. Surely if he didn't find Morton D.J. would just bash him in the head with something hard until his brains leaked all over the sidewalk?

"Don't worry." Hoagie said, coming to stand by Wally and giving him a calm and level look. "We'll find him, I'm sure he just ran off somewhere to play with his little friends."

Wally was grateful for his acquaintence's theory, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something wrong had happened. Wally clenched his fist hard, so that the nails bit angrily into his palm. Zack had said he wanted to get at D.J. and the only thing more precious to her than Maes himself was her brothers Morton and Jared.

Could this all be his fault? Wally's stomach churned sickeningly. Well yes, one way or another Morton's disappearance WAS his fault. He'd been charged with watching the kid. But if something bad had happened...Wally shuddered. Somebody's fingers touched his shoulder, and he jerked from his reverie to look Kuki straight in the eye.

"Wally..." She said, concern flooding her eyes. "What's happening? This is something bigger than some kid lost at the park."

_Why should I tell YOU._ Wally thought, a flash of fury welling up in his chest. He jerked away from her, not even bothering to say anything. Though part of him said it was more out of concern for her feelings than the anger he felt boiling up inside him. It mingled with the panic, making that aggressive side of him twinge with anticipation.

"Looking for something?" The casual voice made Wally jump, and D.J. turned around with relief in her gray eyes. Jared stood leaning against a tree nearby, his eyebrow cocked at the group quizzically. Wally stayed frozen as D.J. rushed to his side. For all her street-smarts she never expected to look at HIM like that...

"Girl!" Abby yelled, jerking D.J. back at the last instant, just as Jared pulled a gun. It fired, but Jared had missed his intended mark by about a mile thanks to Abby. The two fell back with the force of the movement Abby had used to haul her away. Hoagie yelped and he and Samuel slammed into each other in panic.

"What the HELL!?" D.J. screamed, fury making her tremble. Wally found himself suddenly standing in front of Kuki, who merely gave him a level look before stepping to stand beside him. Wally's suspicions had been correct, that posture was too stiff. He had been acting casual. "Jared!?"

"Shut up Destiny-Jane." Jared said, in a tone so harsh that the girl actually snapped her mouth shut. He turned flaming eyes on her, "You always talked too much. but you're a mouthy little slut, aren't you?"

"Hey, rude." Hoagie said, getting to his feet in a move that was both brave and incredibly stupid. "What's your problem dude?"

"Why are ya shootin' at her?" Wally ordered, and Jared turned to give him a quirking smile. Wally's stomach twisted into knots of dread. D.J. let out a feral scream and would have attacked Jared with nothing but her hands had it not been for Abby who gripped her shoulders. "Answer the question!"

"You think you're a little pet don't you?" Jared said, anger making his eyes spark. "I've been running with this group longer than you have. You parade in here and knock away my chances...no matter, that is for another time. The reason I'm shooting at D.J. here? Because it is her fault that Morton's gone. Don't you get it you dumb bitch? Because of your sleeping around, our little brother is as good as dead! I TOLD you to stay out of shit like that didn't I!?"

"Jared LISTEN..." Samuel said, and Jared swung the gun so that it was facing him. Silence pervaded the entire area. Wally suddenly noticed that they were the only people in this part of the park, how the hell had that happened? Where did everybody else go?

"It's mah fault, Zack wouldn'ta known about it except for meh." Wally snapped. Samuel moaned and D.J. shot him a look of surprise. Wally inched forward carefully, his senses strung as tight as a wire. "If ya want ta take it out on anybody ya should shoot meh."

"NO!" Kuki wailed, tackling Wally from behind. Wally yelped and staggered forward, his senses had been focused on Jared not her. Jared jumped as if jerking from a trance and took off into the woods. Wally hit the concrete practically face-first, and struggled to his feet to run after him. "Wally no!"

"Let go of meh!" Wally snapped, and she recoiled as if he struck her. Wally ignored it, looking for one calm face in the group of people that were around them. Focusing on Abby he asked, "Dammit, where'd he go?"

"WHY did he go?" Hoagie intervened, looking a little shaken as he helped Kuki to her feet. D.J. burst into tears, holding her face in her hands and shying away from Abby everytime the girl tried to coaxe her to her feet. Wally's heart twinged. Dammit that was his fault. He ran a hand through his hair again and scowled at the sky.

When he heard Peter's laugh he turned around without any surprise. Only a kind of measured control that was clearly at it's edge. Kuki shied from him as if he were a snake when the gangly teen blew her a kiss. Wally overtook the distance between them and gripped Peter's t-shirt in his fists. The boy yelped a little when he hauled him in the air, but started to laugh. "I wouldn't-wouldn't-wouldn't do that if I were you Wally-boy!"

"You know what the hell is going on don't you? Talk dammit, or I'll rip your own leg off and shove it so far up your ass that you can taste the sole of your shoe." Wally snarled, meaning every word of the threat quite literally. Peter let out a chuckle of mirth and Wally had to stop himself from slamming the guy into the sidewalk.

"Isn't it obvious? Zackie's madder than hell that D.J.'s dating his enemy of course. Picked up her little brother, right from under your nose. Pluck-luck! Then Jared found out-out-out from Toddy-waddy and got all maaaaaad. Gonna teach D.J. a lesson he was, not really gonna kill her of course. Jared just got anger management problems you know." Peter laughed and Wally shook him so hard that his teeth clicked together audibly. "Ow!"

"Ya see Jared next toime ya tell him ta look for meh. It's mah fault. Where's Zack?" Wally snarled, he was going to get Morton out of this. Hey, he was freakin' second-in-command, there had to be something he could do. Peter laughed again, so hard that he trembled in Wally's raised fists.

"Don't you get it you dumby-dumby? Stupid little shit aren't you?" Peter's mouth twisted into a sickening grin, "You aint got pull with the boss no more. Not after ruining my funny last night. Now you're gonna get it! I bet he'll take your girlfriend! Teehee! Take her out for a good night! Or noight as you would say! Noight, noight! HAHAHA!"

Wally felt Kuki tense her shoulder's behind him. Wally let out a snort of disgust and dropped Peter so suddenly that the guy hit the ground hard. Wally knelt down and pressed his head against the concrete. Peter's laughing became whimpering and Wally snarled angrily, "Ah asked ya to tell me where Zack was..."

"Can'tity c-" Peter choked off his sentence abruptly as Wally jerked him up by the hair and socked him in the mouth. "C...c...downtown, his pad, house y'know. Don't hit me again!"

Wally snorted, he hadn't hit Peter very hard, not as hard as he'd have liked to. As soon as his hands relaxed Peter sprang to his feet and took off like a track-star acrossed the park. Wally got up and rubbed his bloodied knuckles on his jeans, avoiding the gaze of the Hoagie, Abby and Kuki he looked directly at Samuel.

"Zack's house, now." Wally ordered curtly. Samuel scrambled to his feet and nodded his head. D.J. got to her feet too and Wally stopped so that his back was back to Hoagie, Abby and...Kuki, "Ya need ta go home. We'll get this sorted out. Listen to meh though, ya'll only get in the way if ya tag along."

Abby snorted as if she found this idea funny and Kuki stepped forward to grab his hand. Wally turned and looked her in the face. She was crying, all hell why was she doing that? Wally flinched as she looked down at his fingers and his heart twisted. _I just started talking to you dammit, but I feel like a heel just for causing a few tears..._

"Please Wally...please let us help you." She pleaded. Wally stared down at her fingers and scowled a little. Instead of jerking his hand away he pried hers gently from his and patted it a little awkwardly. Kuki stared up at him pleadingly and he found himself shaking his head just the tiniest bit.

"Yo, love party." D.J. said, her eyes still puffy but flickering with her old determination, "I'd like to get my little brother back sometime today please."

"Tell me about all of this later. All of it." Kuki said hastily, scrawling something on the back of Wally's hand. "Be...careful Wally."

"Why do ya care?" Wally asked, backing away, lingering despite the time he didn't have.

"I don't need a reason." Kuki said softly, and Samuel was grabbing him by the shoulder and hauling him away. Wally turned and stalked off. Penting up the anger and confusion he felt for the punch in the face that Zack was going to get. Wally wasn't scared of him, Zack was a damn bully. The hell if he'd be pushed around by him.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Kuki**_

Ten minutes had passed since Wally and his two companions had stalked off to confront this Zack. So much drama, so much excitement. Somebody had a GUN! They could have all been killed, and Wally was just taking it as if he saw it every day. He acted so...calm.

"Abby never thought she'd say it." Abby said, sitting by Kuki and putting an arm around her shoulder, "But somehow she thinks Wally got even MORE violent. Not as rash, but somehow that's worse. It's more concentrated now, pent up."

Every movement Wally had made since Jared's appearance, except for his prying away her fingers that had been gentle, had been so full of violence that Kuki's heart ached. What kind of life did he live to react to things like that? Wally had always been aggressive but...well, as Abby said, it hadn't been as concentrated as this. That violence was so close...close to hatred that it almost frightened her.

"He has changed in some ways, he seems smarter. Who woulda thunk it?" Hoagie said with a slightly sentimental smile. He cast a look over at Kuki and added a little dryly, "Thanks for the warning by the way. Did you realize he'd been hanging around with those jerks?"

"No." Kuki said miserably, and Hoagie earned himself a death-glare from Abby. "They aren't all bad. D.J. seemed...brash and a little extreme but not too bad. Samuel was nice."

"Sounded like he knew that Zack guy personally or something." Hoagie said casually, but didn't press it any further when Abby shot him another whithering glare. Instead he hunched forward, jamming his hands into his pockets and looking at the sidewalk under their shoes, "Sooo...when are we going to follow them?"

"I think you should stay away." The calm voice made them all jump, and Kuki found herself staring up into the pale-green eyes of a VERY tall guy. A girl stood slightly behind him, her face buried into the back of his arm when Kuki tried to make eye contact with her. Sheesh, what a kid. (Thinks Kuki, how amusing...) "I'm Todd...an...erm, I'm part of the group Wally's in."

"Then maybe you can tell Abby a little story." Abby said, narrowing her eyes. Todd shifted uncomfortably, and sat down in the middle of the sidewalk. Kuki had to stop herself from giggling, the guy was quite tall and he sort of just flopped down right in the middle of the sidewalk like that. His girl kind of squealed but then snuggled herself into his lap.

"I'm Charlotte." She piped up after a stare, a blush forming on her cheeks, "S-sorry, I'm a bit shy. I can handle being around one new person but..."

She faded out and Abby waved her off gently and looked into Todd's eyes. The boy grimaced a little and looked down at his hands. Finally he spoke in a soft rumble, "I guess I should start with...how Zack, a guy named Jonathon and I met. We made the Fangs...that's our gang. I used to sneak out when I was a kid, my father was a drunk and he liked to hit me. Zack's dad was arrested by the police, and Zack saved me...he was different then..."

"Abby don't know Zack, just continue." Abby said, not unkindly. Todd blinked his pale colored eyes and began to absent-mindedly fiddle with Charlotte's hair.

"My father...was murdered. Very convenient, unfortunately my mother was as well. I'm an orphan, and it's only because of Zack that I wasn't hauled off by child-services. He hid me, and we started it out as a club. After awhile we met D.J. and Jared, with Morton. Their mother was in rehab, and their dad was in jail. They lived with an aunt for awhile but as soon as Jared hit eighteen he took them away from there too. We met Peter back in an alley, I don't know his story. Jared was the guy with the gun..."

"Abby gets it, who was Jonathon now though?" Abby asked.

"Jonathon was the third 'ring-leader' as Zack said. First we just did...little things. A little grafitti, stealing candybars. Nothing major." Todd stopped when Hoagie snorted and shot him a death glare, "After awhile it got worse. Zack started acting like the big dog, and I...was...a little closed off for certain reasons. The point was that soon it wasn't a three leader thing, but a Zack thing. I didn't care because...I didn't care about anything back then. Not until I met Charlotte."

"That's soooo cute!" Kuki squealed, making Charlotte jump and blush in embarassment. Todd rubbed the back of his head nervously, and looked away. "Sorry..."

"We went to a family's house for fun one night you know." Todd choked out, "Zack brought a gun...I...I ran out, I was unfeeling back then but something told me to get out of that damn house. Only Peter and Zack stayed. They came back and said it was a joke but...well, either way Jonathon was pissed."

Kuki furrowed her brow. There was something...about that that seemed vitally importan. Before she could grasp at the meaning her brain was nudging her towards Todd continued with his dark story.

"Jonathon got fed up. He didn't like the fact that things were getting more violent you know? Zack...took him aside to talk. We were in a dark place, and he had a flashlight. He...hit John in the temple with it, it killed him." Todd shuddered as if some cold wind had blown through the place. Kuki didn't blame him, the hairs on her arms had risen up.

"If he's a murderer why not go to the cops?" Hoagie said, looking a little paler than he had before. Todd shook his head and stared down at his big hands.

"The other's are afraid of him." Todd said, "God knows that in a fair fight I'd knock him flat on his ass but...Zack doesn't fight FAIR don't you get it? That's not his way. He likes to bait traps, to play with peoples heads. He's got people high up, don't you get it? If I charged him with the murder of my friend...he'd just find a way to get out."

"People think that, but if he's charged with murder he could be put away for forever!" Kuki protested.

"You don't get it! The people in Cleveland aren't your run-of-the-mill people alright? We have eccentrics, and they're a bit more dangerous than the regular crazy folk you run into in the little towns. There's something...messed up about the people here. Zack's friends with powerful people, if they couldn't get him out on bail they could bust him out." Todd looked away miserably.

Kuki had a feeling he was referring to some of the villians they had in the town. Hoagie, Abby and Kuki all exchanged an uncomfortable glance before looking back at Todd. Finally Abby stood up, "Wally's going to Zack's. We better stop him before he gets himself hurt. We need a plan."

"Why do you even want to be involved." Charlotte said softly, "If it weren't for the fact that...I love Todd I wouldn't..."

"Wally's an old friend of ours." Hoagie smirked, "Even if he doesn't remember us we gotta have the good decency to back him up, right guys? Hey, stop glaring at me. I didn't say anything important that would give us away! HEY! OW!"

The final 'HEY!' had been caused by Abby's slapping him upside the head with her hat. Kuki clenched her hands together and stared off into the darkness. Something big was afoot, and that Wally was going to be in terrible danger because of it.

* * *

_**Charlotte really annoyed me in this chapter...**_

_**Sorry Charlotte -cuddles-**_

_**Anyways! GAH! The drama!**_

_**You have NO idea what big things are going down, you don't even know the half of it! -cackles-**_

_**Okay, so technically you don't know half, and I left a few hinties in there for you to try and figure out the other half...part of the other half. Can you guess? XP**_


	11. Cars Are Sneaky Lil' Buggers

_Disclaimer;_

_Don't own anything but mine...Again, Sophie is my sisters. Oh, Natasha's mentioned, she's not mine either..._

_**ZOMFG! I know that basically none of you care but the second Case Closed movie is so FREAKIN AWESOME! **_

_**EEEE! Gawd I'm such a freakin' fangirl...**_

_**No offense to any of you fangirls out there. -nervous laugh-**_

_**Also I realized I'm a bit of an idiot, because for the longest time I was sure that they didn't have any CaseClosed fanfiction...then I remembered that it is also called Detective Conan -.-u**_

_**But I'm happy because there is, in fact, fanfiction for it. XP**_

_**I'm thinking of doing a KNDConan crossover :3  
**_

_**imasmurf93- Did you now? Good eye...maybe XP**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- Zack? Really...huh. If you like people like him that may be a bit of a problem. I noticed that about myself too, all my ideal men from shows/books/movies are jerks. Which kind of made me go...'Huh...that's not very good...'**_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- They would make good friends. Charlotte is sweet like that. :3**_

_**super ario- Todd? I luffles the snot outta Todd. -cuddles Todd- One of my favorite Oc's that one...**_

_**wolfdog127- Lawl, here have another helping then. -hands on a dinner plate-**_

_**Laurie43- Indeed a gun...**_

_**iplaytheflute89- You play the flute I'm guessing? XP Here's your update. I wouldn't try taking on Kuki though, as bouncy as she is she can have quite the vicious temper...**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- The final fight? XP -dramatic voice- Who will win? Bumbumbum...**_

_**Numbuh231- Yeah, the poor guy is really scared. I'm sorry Morton. -cuddles-**_

_**evemiliana- Peter actually wasn't originally like that. He just...turned out all creepy and I was like ZOMFG that's the perfect way for Wally to meet Kuki so...yeah...XP**_

_**Simpering- I did, I was like 'RIPTALON!' Then I decided it wasn't him after all because that Riptalon was mean and creepy...Rip's too soft and squishy on the inside to be a Clawguard. Glad you liked it. :3**_

_**sstoons3425- Oh yes, there will be some physical complications.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Eleven- Cars Are Sneaky Lil' Buggers_

_**Simon**_

It really was completely unfair. If he had realized that Fanny would be back he would have insisted on tagging along with Kuki in the others. Simon narrowed his sensitive eyes and cranked the volume up on the television in an attempt to drown out the voice of his team-mate. Which, of course, only served to make her yell even louder.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME YOU STUPID BOY!?" Fanny screamed, Simon turned his head slowly and managed to give her a look that was completely nuetral. He learned that when you have invisible eyebrows it is hard to look sarcastic, and acting bored often got the desired affect anyways. "GRAAAA!"

Fanny had been storming around the place yelling for the others for nearly an hour. Simon knew they were gone of course, but he it wouldn't have been nearly as amusing as it was if he TOLD her that now would it? So he had sat on the couch, feigning interest in some nature show while Fanny looked everywhere for their missing team-mates.

She had only just discovered that they were not even HERE, much to her fury. Simon nonchalantly ducked his head as her right shoe sailed passed his head. He hid a smirk that found it's way onto his pale features. Fanny stormed over to him and stood in front of the television. "You make a better door than a window." Simon commented, in a way that must have been infuriaratingly casual to Fanny. She fumed.

"What if something important happens?" Fanny said, looking distressed. Simon rolled his blue eyes at her and shrugged his shoulders. Fanny was loud, but he knew that she had a tendancy to be like that to hide the fact that she was nervous about something. "Simon!"

"I can hear...or I could." Simon said, throwing her a tight-lipped smile. "If something happens we contact them on their communicators. You can't honestly expect them to be hanging around here all day every day do you?"

"We do." Fanny pointed out flatly, "Well...YOU do."

Simon scowled. He didn't much care for the homefront. His dad was always on his case, always worried about him. Simon snorted and turned his head so that it looked at the far wall. He certainly didn't want an intimate moment with Fanny of all girls. The quiet boy struggled to think of something to change the subject. Finally he settled on saying, rather flatly, "You're in my way."

"BOYS!" Fanny yelled, throwing up her hands and storming off. Simon snickered to himself as he lounged on the couch. Suddenly his communicator pinged, and he flipped it open with a sharp glance at the Irish girl. "Who is it?"

Simon held up his hand and said, "Hello?"

"Good, Simon." Abby's face flickered onto the small screen and Simon gave her a small salute. "Abby, Kuki and Hoagie...erm, we have some business. We might be a little late. While we're gone Fanny's in charge."

Simon couldn't help the groan that exploded from his mouth, and he caught the completely smug smile that crossed Fanny's face. Oh GREAT this was just freakin' PERFECT. "Roger that..." Simon said, letting his despair coat his tones. Abby rolled her eyes at him before the screen flickered again and went black.

"WELL..." Fanny said, grinning a little evilly. "I think the bathrooms need cleaning, don't you?"

"Why do I get the feeling this is payback for making you run around the place looking for them?" Simon groaned, and got into a slumped standing position. "Fine, but if you think I'm scrubbing those toilets with a toothbrush I'll punch you in the face."

"I'd like to see you try!" Fanny replied in a sing-song voice.

* * *

_**Wally**_

Wally eyed the house critically, and looked over at Samuel. Finally, before his comrade could press his finger to the doorbell Wally said, "What the hell are weh doin' HERE?"

"Getting back up of course." Samuel blinked. Wally arched an eyebrow at him. They were standing in front of Samuel's grandmother's house. Wally hunched his shoulders and scowled at the sidewalk when Samuel pressed his finger to the button. The door flew open as if whoever stood behind it was waiting this entire time for them.

"SAMUEL!" A woman bustled out of the door, surprising Wally and wrapping her arms around Samuel. She hugged him so tightly that Samuel literally made a little choking noise.

She wasn't very old, in her late thirties at the most. Her hair was a honey color, and was pulled back in a bun. Wally realized that she happened to be wearing an aprong of some sort, and her hands were covered with oven mitts. Her eyes were a vivid shade of blue, and she gave him a radient smile and pulled him into a hug. Wally yelped in surprise but before he could even react she was gathering D.J. into a bone-crushing grip. Wally rubbed his neck and winced.

"Hi Grandma!" Samuel said, and Wally literally blanched at her. THAT was his grandmother!? She wasn't OLD though! Samuel chuckled as if he found Wally amusing, "Grandma had my dad when she was still in high school."

"My favorite mistake!" The woman said. The words were completely outlandish, even a little mean, but when she said them it sounded like the highest of compliments. She turned her blue eyes on him, and Wally's heart ached a little. She was a little eccentric but he couldn't help...but be a little reminded of his mom. (Not that his mom was nearly as hyper active as this woman...)

"Uh..." Wally said, stepping back gratefully as D.J. pushed forward. "Mrs. Havoc are Raymond and Maes here?"

"Call me Sophie sweetie." Samuel's grandma said with a grin that reminded Wally of the younger boy. He could see where he got his spirit anyways. "Yes, I believe they are...I think...well they were earlier anyways. I was cooking something and then I got distracted because I was chasing this cat you see, and it was so cute..."

"Thanks!" D.J. said, slipping passed. Though the action was a little rude Sophie just laughed it off and continued on her search for the cat as Wally and Samuel walked inside. The place was HUGE...Wally gaped a little at the towering ceiling and elaborate decorations. Yet there was a lived in feel to it too. Magazines were sprawled all over the floor, and somebody had left a jacket on a chair nearby.

Wally yelped in surprise when Maes gripped his shoulder a little hard. The boy had appeared from practically NOWHERE, and he was giving Wally a look that made him want to sink between the floorboards and stay hidden there for awhile. That guy was CREEPY. Raymond spotted him as he rounded the corner with D.J. who seemed a bit surprised at seeing Maes beside Wally.

"Yo! Wally right? Or was it Wallace? Something about walls...anyways, how you doing? Samuel! Hi, what the heck are you doing here?" Raymond turned to Samuel just as Wally opened his mouth for a greeting. Wally sighed inwardly, were all the people in this place so bouncy that they couldn't carry on a proper conversation?

"We need help. Morton's been taken." D.J. said, Wally winced as Maes's grip increased on his shoulder. The Australian turned to snap something at him, but even his hot-headed anger vanished under that cold stare. Wally ducked underneath the taller guy and decided to hang out by the wall instead. "Maes, leave him be. He's apologized."

"That shouldn't make what he did right." Maes said coolly, making Wally flinch a little. Something told him that Maes did not care for him AT ALL. Raymond let out a nervous cough, alerting his twin brother to his presence, "What?"

"Well if it's Morton in trouble we should help right? That's what you wanted us for, right Babe?" Raymond said looking at D.J. and trying to charm her with a smile. At the same exact time D.J. and Maes narrowed their eyes in a death-glare. Raymond went a little pale and backed up, "Erm, D.J. I mean, eheheeh..."

"Stay out of trouble!" Sophie called from somewhere in the hallway, making the group jump and look at each other guiltily. Luckily they wiped their expressions clean by the time that Sophie got into the room. Wally felt bad for decieving her like this, that smile was so kind and gentle that even he felt safe here. "If you're all going out you should keep a watch on each other."

"Right Grandma." Samuel said, looking slightly miserable. Sophie laughed a pretty laugh and looked gently at Wally and D.J.

"You two feel free to come by whenever you need to get away, alright? Our family is always growing bigger, and I don't mind having some people around the house to chitter-chatter with." She smiled, "You're always welcome here."

Wally looked away while D.J. thanked the woman. The thing that bothered him was that he would actually enjoy himself here. Sophie was clearly kind-hearted, and she was almost a cliche' for motherhood. Wally's chest ached a little and he tried to shove the image of his own mother's corpse from his head. He'd never be able to remember her smiles...just that broken...

"Come on Wally, let's MOVE!" Samuel said, looking at him strangely. Wally jerked into wakefulness and started to run out. At the last moment Sophie gave him a gentle hug, and looked at him with so much sympathy that his heart actually hurt a little. Wally ducked out of the house without saying anything else. As he walked passed Samuel the boy asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothin'." Wally said curtly, knowing it was a lie. He suddenly bitterly missed his mother's hugs, and wanted very badly to remember them. Wally scowled at the ground. This is what happens when you let people in. Wally stopped, and stared at the sidewalk with widening eyes. Dammit no...

He'd failed. Samuel and D.J. were his friends. Morton was his friend. He was worried sick about the kid. Hell, he could even go ahead and call Raymond a friend. Then there were those three from the park too...Hoagie, Abby and...and Kuki. Wally clenched his fist. How had they gotten in? It must have happened so fast that he didn't even notice, because he was pretty sure he didn't care about anybody earlier this week. Anybody but himself.

Now...dammit he really had failed hadn't he? Yet could he really feel bad about it? Wally glanced up and noticed that the group was way ahead of him, except Samuel who had stopped halfway and was looking at him in confusion. His...friends were ahead of him. Wally grit his teeth and a new determination flashed through him. Alright, so he had friends? He wouldn't get hurt again because he'd fight anybody who tried to cause that pain to him ever again. He'd tear them to shreds.

"Comin'!" Wally yelled, running passed Samuel. The boy must have been caught off guard because his friend (!!) just stood there looking a little stupid before running after him.

Wally landed into the street and it wasn't until he did that that he even heard the screech of tires. Wally blinked, and looked up sharply just as a car skidded and slammed into him. Wally's feet left the ground, and for a mind boggling moment he was flying through the air. Then his body slammed into somebody else behind him, his head slammed into the ground. His vision flickered, and all he could think about was why getting hit by a car hadn't hurt so bad. Then the darkness swirled and became complete as he passed out.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Morton**_

Krigare was at the top of the stairs, ready to tear out of there as soon as the door opened. Wasn't he? Morton knew he had told the ferret that, a long time ago, but his mind felt fuzzy now. His arm was in agony, and when he wasn't thinking of how terrifying the darkness was around him he was trying not to scream. The last time he screamed the door had slammed open and a pot had slammed into his back.

"Let us GO dammit or I'll tear you to shreds! Maes! Maes wake up!" D.J.'s voice surprised Morton into wakefulness. The door sprang open and Morton saw Jared and Zack in the doorway. D.J. was in front of them, tied from head to toe. Her head was bleeding, and so was Samuel's who was behind her. Jared had somebody on his shoulder, and Zack did too. Another guy he didn't recognize was tied up behind Samuel, and Jared kicked him in the back so that the three of them all went flying down the stairs.

Samuel landed on him, and Morton cried out in pain. Samuel quickly rolled to a sitting position, and glared up the stairs. Morton whimpered and tried to shut his eyes. All he wanted to do was go to sleep, end this nightmare and sleep.

Another two thuds sounded, muffled by the fact that they landed on the other people in the basement, sounded as Zack and Jared tossed the final two people down the stairs. Morton realized one was Wally, and the other was a boy who looked exactly like the other guy who had been knocked out.

"DAMN YOU JARED!" D.J. screamed, Morton whimpered. "Damn you to hell! I'll get out of this, I swear it! And when I do I'll make sure you'll be in a hospital for MONTHS! Family first you jack ass!"

"Morton has good priorities is all." Zack purred down at them. D.J. was struggling to stand up even though half her body was tied by rope. "You had this coming to you D.J. and it's your fault that Morton's in this."

_D.J.'s...fault..._Morton thought sluggishly, letting his gaze travel to his sister. She looked ready to tear somebodies head off and he couldn't help but think of those Mama bears that get angry when somebody messes with their cubs. Morton looked away, the kid he didn't know was grimacing a little and Wally was unconcious still. The other guy was groaning a little, but he didn't wake up. Samuel...was just staring dejectedly at his hands.

"Well I have to go soon." Zack declared, looking bored. He cast a glance at Samuel, "Oh, and don't worry Samuel. I'll be picking Natasha up so she can hang out with you too! Perhaps I should use the car, it worked rather elegantly for Wallabee don't you agree?"

Samuel was suddenly taut with fury, "Zack..." Samuel said, the leader of their group glared down at them and Morton slid his eyes listlessly to Samuel. Morton didn't mean to...he...well he whimpered. He'd never seen so much anger in somebody before. Even D.J.'s fury was pitiful compared to this. Everyone of Samuel's muscles were tightened, and his teeth were bared in a way that was terribly animalistic. Even his pupils seemed smaller, "Zack if you touch her I'll kill you."

"Heh." Zack said, smirking, and slammed the door shut. Morton smiled at his secret though, at least Krigare had gotten out. He groaned as pain shot up his arm suddenly, and D.J. seemed to notice him for the first time.

"Morton!" She said, but her voice was fading away. Oh he wanted to sleep so badly. Morton shut his eyes and embraced unconciousness.

* * *

_**Oh noes! Everything has taken a terrible turn!**_

_**Wally's just figured out he cares for people to, and then he gets hit by a CAR...**_

_**Poor Wally, those cars are sneaky like that. :3**_

_**Who is Natasha you ask? Samuel's girlfriend of course...he was allowed to have her so Zack knew about him. Not Wally though, they aint' acquainted...XP**_

_**I promise that the part with Simon and Fanny isn't completely random. -.-u**_

_**Unless you all stop reviewing, which would make me cry if you did by the way, this fanfiction'll hit one hundred reviews! Eeep! That's special to me. Lawlz...**_


	12. Stalker People

_Disclaimer;_

_Oc's are either mine or Hameron's. I don't own hers, and I don't own KND._

_**GAH! This took me forever and a half to get to. Sorry. -.-u**_

_**Simpering- Lawl, Hunger Games. :3 I'm just evil like that, and there are even MORE twists coming. -cackles-**_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- She is amusing like that isn't she? XP**_

_**super ario- I be disowneded? -hands new chapter- Now I'm not disowneded, and I even gave you two. :3**_

_**wolfdog127- XP Here you go then...**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- Sorry, you'll just have to sit tight.**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- Who indeed? -evil laugh-**_

_**Laurie43- Indeed I am. Hey, I probably should have made note of that somewhere up there...-counts-...-gets confused-...Um...yeah...**_

_**Suki-chan- I'm so glad you like it so much. Makes me happy :3**_

_**angel soo cute- Yeah, it is a bit depressing. -.-u But I really wanted a tragedy fic for Wally...dunno WHY it had to be HIM but...eh...**_

_**Numbuh 321- Yeah, Jared...YOU'LL GET YOURS JARED! **_

_**sstoons3425- Yeah, those guys aren't so great at the rescuing thing. -.-u**_

_**imasmurf93- I love Natasha. I was worried about how to write her (she's got a very complex personality to capture...) but I think I got her down pretty well. :3**_

_**coll90- Ooooh, thank you very much. One of the best, flattery will get you everywhere my friend...that came acrossed as slightly disturbing. Ignore me and read on please. -headdesk-**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Twelve- Stalker People_

_**Wally**_

The first thing he was aware of was how much it HURT. Everything. His arms, his side, his head. It felt as if he'd been hit by a car...oh, right he had. Wally's eyes flickered open and he blinked dazedly. After this he proceeded to let out a soft moan, and he attempted to try and cradle his head. Which didn't work because it seemed as though he was tied up. "What...?"

"Wally." Samuel's tired voice sounded somewhere next to him, and Wally waited patiently until his eyes had adjusted enough to make out the other boy. "We're so stupid."

"I'm going to kill Jared." D.J. said, as if this were a fact that Wally needed to catch up on. "I've decided that you know. That I'm going to go ahead and murder him even if I land in jail for years and years. The jack ass deserves it."

To which Wally replied by merely blinking a little stupidly. His brain struggled to come up with something, anything that could catch him up on the manner. Instead the Australian merely heaved a sigh and asked in a slightly irritated voice, "Well is anybody gonna tell meh what the hell is goin' on?"

"You got hit by a car." Maes said, and Wally could make out the smallest of grimaces on his face. "Which sent you flying into ME thank you very much. Next time somebody decides to run you over give me a little warning okay? You're head is pretty damn hard."

"You knocked him out." Raymond pointed out, with a grin despite the fact that they were all tied up in the basement. That grin immediately turned into a frown (or at least Wally thought so because he couldn't see the glint of his teeth anymore) and Raymond added grimly, "Then Jared and Zack came at us with baseball bats. By the time D.J. and I even knew what was going on Samuel was knocked out. I punched Jared in the face, but a fist versus a baseball bat is NEVER a good match-up in a fight."

"I'll kill him." D.J. snarled again, her eyes flashing in the darkness. "I'll tear his head off and use it as a soccerball that's what I'll do. Nobody better stop me either, because if you do I'll tear YOUR head off and use it as another soccerball. I like playing soccer."

Wally groaned and sat up. His head felt like it was going to explode. The Australian placed his forehead on his knees and tried to stop the dizzying feeling that had rocked him suddenly. "Weh gotta do somethin'. Weh gotta get to Morton."

"Um, Wally Morton's HERE with us." Samuel said, though he sounded miserable when he spoke. The usual light cheer he had in his voice had vanished completely. _Well duh, we've just been tossed into a basement. You can't exactly expect the guy to be chipper in these circumstances._

"He's unconcious." D.J. added softly. "I can't wake him up."

"It'll be okay." Maes instantly soothed, "I'll get us out of here, I promise. Wally? Do you have any way of getting out of your bonds?"

"Uh...no." Wally said, struggling to even lift his head. Honestly at the moment he could hardly think straight, he probably wouldn't be able to figure out how the hell to untie a knot even if he miraculously got out his tussed up state. The Australian grimaced at the darkness around him and added, "Just...let meh make mah head stop spinnin' and Ah'll get roight on that."

* * *

_**Kuki**_

Todd had insisted at leaving Charlotte at home, but the black haired girl had refused him. Now Kuki was in the back of the group as Todd silently walked up the street and Charlotte was walking beside her. Todd seemed alert, and even the smallest of noises made the bigger guy jump nearly five feet in the air. It made Kuki feel incredibly nervous.

"Todd..." Charlotte whispered. He flicked his pale green eyes over to the girl at Kuki's side and she added softly, "I think you need to relax a bit. It's not helping you to be so jumpy."

"You don't know Zack like I do." Todd said grimly, "He'll do anything and everything to get what he wants. I'm not taking any chances."

"Charlotte's right though, if you're this tense you'll freeze up if anything bad does happen." Kuki pointed out, the girl gave her a relieved little grin. Kuki added, "Where is this house anyways?"

"Just a few more blocks." Todd said, though his shoulders had visibly relaxed. "Hopefully we can catch up with Wally and the others..."

Todd trailed off and suddenly leaped into the bushes, catching everybody off guard. The taller boy hissed something in irritation and grabbed for Charlotte who pulled Kuki along with her. Hoagie and Abby jumped into the bush of their own accord, and after a few moments the group peered from the branches toward the house they had stopped by.

"Mind tellin' Abby why we suddenly decided to go on a safari?" The leader of Kuki's team said a little crossly. Todd only pointed vaguely in the direction of the house, and that's when Kuki noticed the boy that had had the gun earlier. Abby blinked, and narrowed her hazel eyes.

"That's Natasha's house." Todd said grimly, "Samuel's girlfriend."

"Natasha? She goes to my school." Charlotte said, blinking in surprise. "Why is Jared over there?"

_**

* * *

**_

_**Natasha**_

Natasha narrowed her violet eyes at her counter-top she'd been scrubbing for nearly an hour. Even after all that time the yellow spot still stayed grimly in it's place. Natasha whipped back her dark hair and reached for a bottle under the sink. "PREPARE TO DIE YOU STAIN! FOR I HAVE BLEACH! MUAHAHA!"

To be honest with you she was completely bored. Samuel was supposed to come over earlier, but her boyfriend had a tendancy to get distracted and be late. Not that she minded. She actually found it a little cute when he ended up at her door spluttering about how there was something shiny and he just had to go after it.

As she pulled a surgical mask over her face and began scrubbing the counter-top with new vigor she heard something in the hallway. Her blue-violet eyes narrowed and she slowed her scrubbing slightly. _Mmmm...somebody's in my house._

"Little pig, little pig, won't you let me in?" The purring voice of somebody she didn't know sounded at her doorway. Natasha scowled beneath her mask and slowly turned around with the bottle of bleach in her hand. She removed her mask so that the newcomer could see her frown, "Hello there, my name is Jared."

Knowing exactly what would catch the poor guy off guard she gave him the biggest smile she could possibly manage. The guy literally blanched, his eyes actually bugged out of his head a little. "Well hi there Jared! Nice to meet you, I'm Natasha. So, what exactly brings you into my house?"

"I..." Jared blinked in momentary confusion before recovering. "You're coming with me."

"Oh how flattering, a stalker!" She gave him a false-smile filled with teeth. "Or are you here for something else? Oh! I know, you're part of that group Sam hangs out with, aren't you? How quaint. He's not here right now, please leave a message after the beep."

"I'm here because of YOU." Jared growled, Natasha merely waved him away as if he were wasting her time. He stepped closer to her and she narrowed her violet eyes dangerously as he grabbed for her arm.

In one single swift motion Natasha tipped her hand and sent a bottle of opened bleach flying into his face. Jared screamed in agony as the substance got into his eyes and Natasha jumped lithely around him to stand in the doorway. Even though he couldn't see it she stuck her tongue out at him and waggled her fingers. "REALLY!? Do you seriously think I'd be stupid enough to date somebody who runs with a dangerous gang and NOT be able to do something to defend myself? First tip at being a guy who attacks people, make sure your victim isn't holding something they can hurt you with."

This was all said in a rather sing-songy voice. Natasha was actually rather enjoying this. Jared scrambled to his feet, screaming in agony as he clawed at his eyes. Natasha was glad that her sister wasn't home at the moment, that'd be just a teensy bit awkward to have to explain.

Natasha blinked and decided to share this information with her unfortunate guest, "I'm glad that June's not home right now. She'd probably ask me why a person was writhing in agony on the floor. Then I'd have to be like, 'WEEEELLL...' and it would get into this long thing..."

"You BITCH!" Jared howled, he'd somehow managed to scramble to the sink and was flushing his eyes out under the running water. "I'll kill you you bitch! Damn you!"

"You have terrible language, I should have aimed for your mouth instead of your eyes." Natasha blinked at the boy with her wide violet eyes. Jared froze, obviously detecting the hint of danger she held in her tone. Natasha grinned at him coyly from the doorway, "Now then have you started wondering why it is that I haven't called the cops? Well I'll tell you. See, if you're here that means Samuel is in danger. Something that I most certainly do not want. Since you've conveniently figured out that I'm not a person to mess with you're going to be a good little boy and tell me where my boyfriend is."

"Or what?" Jared growled, "You'll torture me?"

"All in self-defense." Natasha replied with a chipperish smile. Jared seemed shocked by this answer and Natasha rolled her violet colored eyes in irritation, "Listen buddy, I'm not your average teenage girl. Hardly anybody is in this town. See, I have a secret to tell you, I'm a ninja!"

"You're psychotic aren't you?" Jared whimpered from the sink. Natasha wondered if he could see very well since she'd decided to toss chemicals in his face.

"Only a little bit." She replied, twirling around and blinking in surprise. There were more people behind her. "Oh hello there, come to help out your friend?"

"Uh...no." The tallest of them said, a big guy with pale green eyes. "We actually came in here to help YOU."

"Oh, that's nice." Natasha said with a friendly smile, "But I've got it covered. The guy actually came after me while I was holding a thing of bleach. Silly-goose, he forgot that that stuff can kinda burn when you get it into your eyes. Nice to meet you all, I'm Natasha."

"I'm Todd, this is Charlotte, Abby, Hoagie and Kuki." Todd said, looking over at Jared and wincing a little. "So you know how to take care of yourself, don't you?"

"Somebody has to wear the pants in my relationship, and that's certainly not Samuel. Oh, poor Sam, I guess I can let him wear the pants if he really wants to." Natasha blinked as she realized the group was looking at her oddly. She turned around and faced Jared again, "Alright, spill it. Now I've got a bunch of people to back me up. Where is Samuel?"

* * *

_**Kuki**_

This Natasha girl was a little eccentric, but Kuki found herself liking the girl almost instantly. So she seemed a bit loopy, Kuki could be kind of a loopy too sometimes. Jared seemed to have given up any hope of getting out of his current situation. The guy was just leaning against the counter and breathing a little harshly.

"We ambushed them after they went to Samuel's grandparents house. Zack figured it would be the first place Samuel would go since Maes and Raymond hang out there." Jared explained, "We hit Wally with a car because Zack figured he'd put up the most fight, along with Maes. We got lucky because Wally hit Maes and they both got knocked out."

"WHAT!?" Kuki screeched with surprise, practically bursting the eardrums of everybody within three feet of her. "You hit Wally with a CAR!? Is he alright!?"

"As far as I know." Jared snarled, "And I could care less about that little dick."

"Watch it." Hoagie snapped, "Where did you put our friend?"

"Ha! You think you're his friends? You're wrong, got it kids? That guy couldn't befriend anything. There's too much hurt and hate in him, he's a bitter husk left behind by the tragedies in his life. If I were you I'd dump him on his nose, after all he's only served to cause you trouble so far." Jared sneered, turning his reddened eyes their way. Suddenly he moaned, "I can't see, I need a hospital."

"Not yet." Todd snapped, "Where did you guys take them? To Zack's house like Peter said? Where are they in there? Think carefully before you decide to answer Jared because I'm feeling a little pissed off and you of all people should know how uncontrollable my temper is."

"Indeed it is. Have you told your girlfriend how your family died yet Todd?" Jared snarled, Todd's eyes seemed to grow a little darker. Kuki blinked in confusion as Jared added, "His father murdered his mother, and then Todd got a little angry didn't you? Just couldn't stop yourself from killing your dad and then breaking your little sisters neck. She didn't even do anything though, did she? Why'd you do it then Todd? Huh?"

"That's enough Jared." Todd snapped, his voice darkened with rage, "Where are they?"

"Oh...the basement..." Jared leisurely murmured. Then he moaned pathetically again and shook his head from side to side, "The hospital, please call the hospital. I can't see, what if I go blind."

Kuki didn't mean to back sharply away from Todd when he reached for the phone, and she felt badly for it almost instantly because his eyes flashed with pain. Charlotte hugged him tightly and murmured something gently. Todd called the hospital and the police, and hung up the phone.

"Zack's not there right now." Jared added, "He went looking for somebody. Not exactly sure who, but if you think he could find somebody to hurt I'd keep that in mind."

"Damn, Sophie!" Todd snapped, "Come on you guys, Wally will have to wait a bit."

_**

* * *

**_

_**Simon**_

He hated this. More than anything in the world, it was super irritating. The teen leaned against the bathroom door and wiped his pale brow. His relaxed state was changed when he heard the shattering of glass. Simon swore angrily and stormed towards the kitchen. "Fanny I sweart to God if you're breaking shit just to make me clean it up-"

The albinistic teen stopped dead, that wasn't Fanny. It was some guy that he didn't recognize. Simon jumped into the air and attempted to kick the guy in the chest, but he caught him by the foot. Simon cried out in surprise as he was slammed into the counter. _This guy can match my moves!? How the hell!_

"So I was right." The guy said with a chuckle, "There were rats living under the school after all. And I'm thinking you're involved with Beatles, aren't you? Tell me, where is the girl that calls herself Kuki Sanban?"

"The hell I'll tell you." Simon snarled, wondering who this Beatles person was and why this guy was after his team-mate in the first place. Simon hooked one lanky leg behind the guys and sent the bigger guy crashing to the ground. Unfortunately the guy had a rough hold on Simon so he fell back on top of him. "Dammit! FANNY! Intruder!"

"WHAT!?" Fanny's scream was followed by the shattering of a plate very close to Simon's head. It hit the guy who was holding him square in the face and he released Simon with a cry. The pale teen couldn't help but slam the heel of his foot on the guys hand as he leaped out of range. "Who the HELL are you?"

"Zack." The guy grunted, standing up and glaring balefully at them. He let out a laugh, "Well, isn't this interesting! I would never have imagined YOU to be stationed in a place like this!"

"You know this guy?" Simon spat, looking at Fanny from the corner of his pale blue eyes. The girl looked a little confused and then she rapidly shook her head from side to side. Zack suddenly rushed her as though to tackle her, but at the last moment he flipped forward onto his right hand and kicked her in the chest. "Fanny!"

The girl hit the wall hard, and scrambled to her feet almost instantly. Simon yelped with surprise and ducked an outstretched swing of the Zack guys hand. Which had apparently been what Zack wanted him to do because he was hauled into the air by Zack's free fist. _He's strong!_ Zack let out a laugh of glee as he slammed Simon into the cabinet. The glass shattered behind him and Simon let out a yelp of agony as shards dug painfully into his back.

"Let him GO!" Fanny snarled, she ran to kick Zack in the head but another person slammed into her from the side. For such a thin and wiry person he must have had surprising strength because the hot-headed Irish girl was sent flying into the counter. Her head struck it with a sickening crack that made Simon's stomach churn, and she fell to the floor completely limp. The other guy burst into laughter, and adjusted his glasses before he began to kick her. Simon struggled to be released, and Zack cackled wildly.

Zack was pushing him harder into the cabinet, and glass was biting into Simon's flesh. The back of his head felt as if it were on fire, and he bit back a cry of agony. Zack laughed gleefully, "Scream! Scream and maybe I'll let you go!" Simon felt sick to his stomach as Zack suddenly lifted him away from the cabinet and slammed him into it again. This time he screamed as the glass dug even deeper into his back and his head. "HAHAHA!"

"Can I kill her please!" The other guy said, "Oh please Zack, she's so very pretty when she's not yelling like that."

"No..." Simon croaked, agony shooting in his head. He was aware of blood pouring down his face and into his eyes. The Zack guy frowned, Simon's vision flickered a little. "Leave her alone..."

"Damn, we got a bit carried away Pete." Zack said, looking sadly at Simon. "I'm afraid I might have killed him. No, don't kill the girl, we still need her. Hey buddy, don't die on me now, I need you for my game you know. Perk right on up."

"Sick." Simon spat, it was all he could muster. Oh he was in so much pain. Everything felt like it was on fire, and he was aware that his entire back must have been a bloody mess. Zack only laughed at him and patted him on the head as if he were some sort of dog or something. Simon let out an involuntary cry of pain when he did this, he just didn't have the strength to keep it in anymore.

"You're fiesty, I like that. If you survive you should start hanging out with us." Zack laughed, and it was that laughter that Simon heard even as he drifted into unconciousness.

* * *

_**Lawl, I was rereading this and I realized that it kind of looks like I intended Simon and Fanny to be a pairing...**_

_**I didn't XP But it's kind of cute...:3**_

_**Oh noes! More people captured, Todd and the others went to the wrong place. -.-u**_

_**What will happen next? How come Zack is such a good fighter!?**_

_**Find out silly...XP**_


	13. You Guys Suck at Rescuing

_Disclaimer;_

_I don't own what isn't mine. _

_**So...**_

_**Yeah, no Surviving Paradise. I'm SORRY but I have writer's block with it right now.**_

_**I got stuck -.-u**_

_**Anyways, I decided to update in this because I'm so NOT stuck on it. XP**_

_**So here we go...**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Thirteen- You Guys Suck at Rescuing_

_**Wally**_

Oi his head hurt still. At least the dizzy feeling had left, but he was aware of the fact that his ribs felt like they'd been crushed in. Wally grimaced at the floor between his feet. Raymond was telling some sort of story, Wally wasn't really listening. The false-hope he was trying to give the group was merely an annoyance to the Australian.

_Damn._ Wally thought, gritting his teeth. How had things ended up so miserable? The door cracked open, sending light flooding down into the basement. Wally hissed in agony as his head throbbed. It felt like his eyes were burning from the onslaught of brightness. He'd gotten used to the nearly complete black of the basement.

"Wally awake yet?" Zack sang, Wally almost said something but Samuel shook his head sharply. The teen blinked but kept his mouth shut. Zack snorted, and pushed something down the stairs. It was a girl, and after that he tossed something else too. It landed on Wally, and the Australian fell back under the heavy body of another person. "Too bad, when you do wake up be sure to find a way to tell me."

The door slammed shut, and Wally shifted so that whoever landed on him rolled off. "Oi, Ah'm covered in something sticky." Wally snapped irritably, and he couldn't wipe it off either thanks to being tied up, great. The person he pushed off of himself groaned in his unconciousness, and he could make out a pale blonde head in the darkness. "Who are yeh?"

The person didn't reply, but the girl was struggling to sit up. She looked around dazedly for a moment, and then she yelled so loudly that Wally literally jumped. "LET US GO RIGHT NOW YOU STUPID BOY BEFORE I COME UP THERE AND STRANGLE YOU ALIVE!"

Sheesh, even D.J. hadn't been yelling that loud. "Shut your damn mouth." The girl looked ready to explode with rage as Maes said this, and the boy continued heatedly, "You'll only piss them off you idiot. They'll come down here and hurt you, do you want that? No? Didn't think so."

"Simon!" She said, rolling over to the side of whoever had fallen on Wally. "He's bleedin'! Somebody do something!"

"Loike what?" Wally couldn't help but snap, "Weh're all toied up if ya hadn't noticed. If ya can't do anythin' then weh can't either."

"He's in bad shape though Wally." D.J. said, sounding nervous. Wally glanced at the person, even now there was a pool beginning to form beneath him. Wally blinked in surprise, and narrowed his eyes. There wasn't anything they COULD do though. "You said his name was Simon right? Maybe we should try and wake him up..."

"If he's lost too much blood to stay concious he'll die anyway." Maes said a little irritably but after a moment he heaved a sigh, "Alright, fine. What exactly happened to him?"

"That jerk slammed him into a glass cabinet." the girl snapped, her eyes blazing in the darkness. Maes shuffled forward and Wally had to scooch back on his butt to give the guy room. He peered down at the still form of the boy below him.

"He's very pale, is he anemic?" Maes asked seriously.

"No, ya stupid moron he's got albinism." She glared heatedly at Maes. Maes looked up sharply and snorted something in irritation before glancing back down. Softly the girl murmured, "Can you help him?"

"Honestly? The best thing we can do for him is not touch him. If it was a glass cabinet there's probably glass in his wounds. Moving him could make the glass go deeper or cut him up more. I'm sorry but I don't think there is anything we can do for him in this situation." Maes said softly, almost gently, "What's your name?"

"Fanny." She muttered back, looking down at the still form of the person. "He's goin' to die isn't he?"

"Most likely." Maes said, ever the blunt one. D.J. let out a soft sound of sympathy, and Samuel looked away. Fanny swore angrily and stared at the opposite wall, "That is, if we don't get out. Maybe if we find a way to escape in time and get him to the hospital...but even then his chances are pretty slim."

"Dammit." Fanny swore, "Come on Simon, you're the most stubborn stupid boy I've ever met. You can do it."

Wally grimaced in the darkness, "Wait, how do ya gouys even pertain to this? Ah don't know ya, and Ah don't think that these gouys know ya either. Do ya gouys know em'?"

Fanny had looked up sharply, "That's...impossible. Numbuh Four?" She snapped, and for a moment Wally thought she must have been talking to him. Fury flashed in her eyes, "Oh brilliant! You decide to turn up and then you get us all in trouble, this is all your fault isn't it!?"

"Hey, Ah don't even know ya!" Wally snapped back, irritation flaring at the fact that she had pegged that so easily. "What the hell do you mean Numbuh Four anyways?"

"Never you mind you stupid boy!" Fanny shot back, looking back down at Simon. "Whatever you did to make him angry I think that he's after YOU, he asked Simon where Kuki was and you were close when you were kids."

"But Ah just MET Kuki..." Wally protested, then blinked. "He's lookin' for Kuki? Dammit no! Ah gotta stop him, if he hurts her Ah'll tear him apart!"

"Hey, dying here in the corner please keep the arguing to a mini-...minimum." The weak voice of the boy named Simon snapped every head in his direction. His eyes were half-opened, and he had a weak smile on his face, "If you all could see the looks on your faces..."

"SIMON!" Fanny screamed, making everyone wince except for the pale kid, "You scared me!"

"You still should be scared." Maes murmured, "The fact that he's even concious right now is a miracle."

"It's okay!" Morton said, sitting up. His eyes were glazed with pain but he at least he was concious now too, "Krigare is going to get help! He won't fail us. I know he won't."

"Don't move too much." D.J. soothed, leaning her chin on his head. Just as she said this to Morton, Simon struggled into a sitting position. Wally winced as he heard the sound of blood splatter against the concrete floor. How sickening. "Hey! You're not supposed to be moving."

"I'm not tied up." He pointed out, "Somebody...come...come over here so...I can untie you."

"You need to lie down on your stomach or something." Maes said quickly, but Wally knew that determination. There was no arguing with that kid. He rolled over and balanced on his knees in front of Simon. Maes let out an exasperated sound as Simon began fumbling at the ropes.

* * *

_**Kuki**_

"Is it true Todd?" Kuki asked, they were walking towards Zack's home now. Nobody had been at Sophie's house, but the woman had willingly left her home to stay at a hotel for the night. After, that is, Todd convinced her she'd one a free trip she had been more than excited to go. The light had long since faded, leaving the town in the blue-black of night. Todd blinked, and she could see his pale green eyes darken even in the night air, "I'm sorry...but if we're going to work together..."

"When I was a kid I had a mental-illness. I had fits of anger where I would black out. The only person I'd ever hurt was myself, but when I watched my dad kill my mom..." Todd heaved a tired sigh and pulled Charlotte closer to him. Kuki was reminded of somebody clinging to a lifeline. "I couldn't help it. I never would have hurt anybody otherwise, know that? Even my dad, but I'd never been so angry before. I'll never forget it. It was a like a darkness that smothered everything inside of me. All my reasoning, all my logic."

"That makes ya dangerous if you loose your temper." Abby said darkly.

"I take medication." Todd assured her, but his tone was very curt. "I know I'll probably go to jail after this...the cops have been looking for me. If it wasn't for Zack they would have found me you know."

"And you decide to date a police officers daughter." Hoagie said a little wryly. Todd cast a look down at Charlotte who just quietly hugged him around the waist.

"Love has a funny way of working." Todd finally said, his tone softening a little bit. The teen cast a wayward glance their way, "The least I'll get is placed into an asylum of some sort. I'd almost rather go to jail...I'm...not insane."

"We have connections." Kuki said, feeling a rush of sympathy for her new friend. There was so much pain in his eyes, "Couldn't we get the you-know-what to do something Abby? To wipe Todd's slate clean you know?"

"Maybe." Abby said after a moment, "We'll see how things turn out."

"You guys are really serious aren't you? Ack, hey, no death glares please. I understand that this situation kind of calls for a serious face but REALLY? Come on, lighten up. It's clear that this Todd guy is depressed enough about this darkened past thing so get off of his back." Natasha said. Kuki found herself looking at the ground, her ears burning with shame.

"So that's where you kiddies have been." Kuki looked up sharply to see Peter with another tall boy she hadn't met yet. "Yes, you're right Miss Sanban, my name is Zack. Nice to meet you."

"Damn." Todd swore as the light of the moon glinted harshly off the metal of the pistol Zack was holding. "Charlotte get behind me."

"No use, Pete's got one too, don't you Petey?" Zack practically purred. Kuki glanced behind her and noticed the lanky teen sliding into place. He laughed a high pitched laugh and waggled the gun tauntingly in front of them, "So unless you want to be shot in the back of the heads I suggest you come with me."

_**

* * *

**_

_**Wally**_

"Ya can do it." Wally urged, feeling Simon's feeble attempts weaken even further. Still, he felt the last of his bonds slip away and he had to hold himself back from letting out a cry of triumph. He flexed his fingers and then looked over at Simon who was leaning against Fanny now. His eyes were closed, and he was trembling with exertion. "Thank ya."

"Uh-huh." Simon said sleepily, his eyes opening half way to peer at Wally through the darkness. Wally got up and walked over to Maes, and untied him swiftly. The bigger boy stood up and walked over to Simon and felt his neck. "I'm not dead..."

"Your pulse is weak though dammit." Maes snapped, and he glanced around as Wally slid over to Morton and began to gently untie them. "You've lost too much blood, and you're loosing more. First thing, stop the blood. Anybody got a lighter?"

"Why did that make me feel like throwing up?" Raymond asked, looking a little pale, "Yeah, I've got a lighter. Please don't tell me you're going to use that for what I think you're going to use it for."

As soon as Morton was untied Wally slid over to Raymond and dug into his jacket pocket for the lighter. He tossed it over to Maes who flicked it on. The boy turned his muddied crimson eyes on Simon, "This is going to hurt, but I don't think I'll need to hold you down. You're too weak to struggle."

"Oh sick." Raymond moaned. Wally rolled his eyes at the boy as he focused on untying him. He froze as the door was flung open, and another group of people were thrown down the stairs. Luckily Simon was out of the way, but Wally was right in the path of a tied up Hoagie. Then Abby fell on top of him too, and it was definitely possible that Kuki did as well. After awhile poor Wally was under a heap of people.

"Wally awake yet!?" Zack sang, Wally swore violently under the mass of people. There was many tanglings of arms and legs as he struggled out. Even though his head spun sickeningly he found himself bounding up the stairs two at a time. He drop kicked Zack as he went by, and the boy yelped with surprise. "What the hell!?"

"Surproise!" Wally spat furiously. Zack laughed, and bolted away. Wally stared in shock as the boy headed up the stairs with a gleeful chuckle. "Get back here!"

"Wally wait!" Maes snapped from below. The Australian hardly heard though, this was his chance and he wasn't going to let it slip away. The teen darted up the stairs after him, ignoring the fact that his body screamed in protest.

* * *

_**Kuki**_

They hadn't been there for more than a few moments before Wally had exploded from underneath them and torn up the stairs. Kuki watched his retreating form with a sick twist in her stomach. Wally didn't know that Zack had a gun. He could get hurt. Todd was lying unconcious on top of another kid, who was kicking his legs furiously.

"Oh for the love of-" The boy growled in rage, "Let me out dammit! Get off you useless lump!"

"Maes! Todd is not a useless lump! It's not his fault he fell on top of you!" Charlotte protested. To which the Maes boy replied with only a narrowed eyed glare. She winced, "Is anybody else untied? I don't think Maes can get Todd off on his own."

"This is ridiculous!" Maes protested, kicking his feet again and glaring around the room angrily. In any other situation Kuki would have been smothering her laughter. As it was she couldn't find the spirit too. She also happened to notice that her team-mate was slumped against the wall.

"Simon!" Abby said, noticing him at the time as Kuki. "Fanny! What are you two doing here?"

"Having tea and cookies." Fanny snapped sarcastically, "We were attacked! What are YOU doing here huh? I thought that you were all going on a special mission that left Simon and I alone to fend for ourselves against THEM!"

"We were coming to rescue Wally." Hoagie said, sitting up with a slight moan.

"Some rescue party YOU are! You SUCK at saving people!" Fanny snapped back, her green eyes flashing in the half-light. Oh, right the door was still open. Kuki glanced up the stairway. If somebody could get untied they could follow Wally.

"Morton! You're not tied up!" Hoagie said, looking towards the little boy. The boy moved his arm and cried out in pain. Hoagie's face instantly fell, "But you've hurt your arm somehow."

"I'm sorry." Morton said, tearing up. "I want to help."

"It's not your fault." D.J. said, "Wally's up there and he'll handle things. We'll get out of this yet."

Kuki grimaced. That was the reason she wanted to get untied. The girl tilted her violet eyes to the top of the stairs and her heart lurched painfully in her chest. She just found Wally, she couldn't loose him again. Tears filled her eyes, making the image swim before her. "Wally! Be careful!"

_**

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**_

_**Poor Simon...**_

_**Seriously, I don't even mean to make it seem like they're an intended pairing and that's how they come acrossed. -scowls at Simon- I like her with Numbuh Sixty you fool, go hide your pale butt in the corner or something. **_

_**But...XP I don't know, what do YOU guys think of Simon and Fanny?**_

_**What will happen? Why is Zack so intent on talking to Simon when he's awake?**_

_**You'll find out soon :3**_


	14. Teenagers

_Disclaimer;_

_All I own are the original characters (besides Hammy's XP) and the plot. All the other stuff belongs to their respective owners. I do not claim to own them myself. :3_

_**FAAAAAA! -faceplants it on ground-**_

_**Sorry, I'm just so excited it.**_

_**-sings- I'm so excited! Yeah I just can't hide it...**_

_**That's how it goes right? XP**_

**_Dinosaurs R Dead- Indeed it was :3 Yeah, Tasha is kick butt in many super awesome ways._**

**_super ario(bothreviews)- Lawl, sorry it's not seven...but...well...-leshrug- OMG Collin and Phil! -facepalms- Ehehehe, I totally forgot about them for a little bit...thanks for reminding me. -.-u_**

**_GonardWithTheTDL- Glad you're pumped. XP_**

**_wolfdog127- Awz, now I think they're cute together too. -cuddles Fanny and Simon-_**

**_Numbuh 321- For some really odd reason I always want to put the two first in your number. -.-u I'm sorry you read the wrong chapter first. I bet that was slightly confusing._**

**_Foxx(both)- HAHA! Again with the nickname! I don't think I'm smart enough to create such a machine. If I WAS I'd totally use it for myself and create lots of fun adventures for myself...because I'm selfish like that. 0.o Lawl, hardcore! XP That made me laugh so hard when I read it, you have no idea. _**

**_Simpeh(both)- I know. I was like 'Hmmm...she's got cleaning supplies...' So I kind of threw that in there last minute. :3 I have way too much fun playing the creepy-crazy people. Firestorm, Nightrage, Zack...XP I get so excited when I write people like them. I'm like; MUAHAHAHAHA!_**

**_Suki-chan14- Hopefully you won't have to wait too long. I've got quite a bit of muse._**

_**

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**_

_Chapter Fourteen- Teenagers_

_**Simon**_

Everything was rather fuzzy, to be completely honest. Simon hardly had a grasp on what was real and what was fake anymore. Had he run into the same kid from the bar down here? Had that guy really attacked the person who had gone after them? It seemed like it would be important to point out to the kid that he was specially trained to fight against strong people and that Zack had managed to kill him.

_Because that one kid said I was going to die. Pretty much no matter what they do. Oh well, I guess I won't hurt anymore if I do._ Simon thought wryly twisting his mouth up into a smile. Even that seemed like an effort to him. It made him feel dizzy, and a little sick to his stomach.

"What are you SMILING about you IDIOT! You're HURT!" Fanny snapped, glaring up at him with furious green eyes. _I never noticed how pretty her eyes are when she's mad. Huh, maybe that's why I enjoy baiting her so much._ "SIMON!"

"Nnnn, It's called DEATH not DEAF dear." Simon commented dryly, "Believe it or not I can hear fine. Seeing, now, that's a different story. Things keep going fuzzy..."

_Wow I sound weak._ He thought. The kid who had been helping him earlier was focusing less on pitching a fit at being crushed by a tall guy and more on squirming out. _It's funny but I always thought that if I ever had to face death I'd be afraid. Guess I was wrong, this isn't so bad. Uncomfortable, yes, but the weaker I'm getting the less everything hurts..._

"Listen to me you idiot!" Fanny snapped, "You die and I'll find you and beat the snot out of you!"

"Heh, moot point Fanny, if I'm dead." Simon pointed out.

"You are SOOOO ANNOYING!" She snapped. _You are really pretty. Maybe that's the loss of blood, but for some random reason I really want to kiss you. It's nice to know that somebody is worried about me. Oh no, Dad. Huh, he's always so worried that I'll get myself hurt because of how closed off I am. He's always trying to be accepting and for some reason I just don't want him to be. I kind of wish I could say I was sorry to him._

"We'll get you out of this Simon." the boy...was his name Maes? Had he heard that? Well, whoever it was said that. "I won't ever let a patient of mine die. I swear it."

"You wanna be a doctor?" Simon said, he sounded sleepy. He felt sleepy too. His vision wavered again. _I'm probably going to pass out soon. Eh, I'm just too stubborn to miss all this action though._ Maes nodded his head grimly, "You're...stupid because all doctors loose patients eventually."

"I won't." Maes snapped.

"Whatever floats your boat." Simon shrugged, and winced at the pain. Flicker, flicker went his vision. _I wonder if this is what it's like to be high? I can't imagine why somebody would like it then, it's terribly hard to think like this._

"Would you LISTEN! You have to stop talking, stop MOVING. You keep losin' blood you stupid boy! You'll kill yourself!" Fanny yelled, she opened her mouth to continue this rant. Simon, however, decided not to let her. Hey, whatever, he was going to die anyways. The boy leaned forward and kissed her lightly. She jerked back as if he'd lit a fire under her.

"Hey Fanny." Simon said leaning against the wall again and shutting his eyes. "Shut up."

Then he passed out again.

* * *

_**Wally**_

Wally ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. The teen landed heavily on the top step and looked both ways. The shattering of glass made him jump, but he spun around and headed for a room. Wally yanked open the door to see a broken window. Looking outside he saw Zack grinning at him from the roof.

"Dammit, don't move!" Wally spat. Zack saluted him and jumped off. For a moment the teen was sure he'd be dead and that was the end of everything. Then, as he stepped closer to the window, he saw the trampoline. Zack leaped off of that and onto the grass below. "Zack!"

"Come on kid, catch me and I'll tell you somethin' important!" Zack taunted. Wally's anger boiled, and he kicked out the extra shards of glass and vaulted through the window. He hit the trampoline below and his teeth snapped together a little painfully. Zack was running down the street. Wally cursed under his breath and rolled off.

The smart thing to do would be to call the police. Wally, however, wasn't exactly in a thinking mood. He was in a beat-the-crap-outta-the-dick-who-just-locked-me-in-his-basement kind of mood. Zack darted down the street and Wally followed after him a little slower. Only because he'd been hit by a car and tied up recently.

"Ah'll kill ya Zack!" Wally snarled, fury flashing in his green eyes. Zack replied by shooting a grin over his shoulder. Wally's stomach churned with rage, "Damn ya to hell!"

"Be nice Wally!" Zack chided, and ducked inside a nearby building. Wally blinked with surprise. It was his club. The teen ducked inside, narrowing his green eyes at the mass of moving bodies. Where the hell had Zack gone now? Just as he spotted him he felt a hand close on his shoulder.

"Where the hell have you been?" Collin snarled, and blinked at him as though surprised. "Uh...what the hell happened to you? You look like you got hit by a car or something."

"Let meh go Collin." Wally snapped, clenching his fist and wrenching his hand away. He scanned the crowd and swore, "Dammit! Lost him, where's Jean?"

"How the hell should I know? You're the one whose supposed to do that kind of shit. How can you expect me to have any fun around here when you don't show up for work? Dammit drop-out, you gonna quit this-eeep!" Collin squealed like a little girl when Wally turned around and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. The older guy whimpered a little in surprise. "Hey, lemme go!"

"Listen up roight now. Ah don't loike ya. Ah never loiked ya. Ah'm more than a little pissed off roight now so it'd be a pretty damn good idea to STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MEH! Ya got that? Or is ya brain too tiny to process that? Ah may be a drop-out, hell Ah may even beh stupid, but at least Ah can get off mah skinny ass and DO something every once in awhoile." Wally shoved Collin hard and he fell back on the ground.

"Is there a problem here boys?" Phil asked. Wally hadn't even noticed him coming. Collin pointed an accusing finger in Wally's direction and made several indignant sounds that can't even be justified as words. Wally only shrugged his shoulders and scanned the crowd for Zack. There! In the back, "Wallabee!"

"What?" Wally snapped, stopping at the fringe. He was going to loose him soon. Phil was looking at him with concern in his eyes, "Ah'll explain lateh, gotta go."

With that he ducked into the crowd. It was somehow easier to keep track of Zack, the teen was heading for the back exit. Just as Zack slipped outside Wally burst through the dancing people and bolted for the door. He ripped it open and looked desperately up and down the street.

"Fu-" Wally started, thinking he'd lost the other boy. Then Zack poked his head around the corner and stuck his tongue out at him. Wally didn't know whether to throw something as hard as he could or to stand there feeling a little creeped out. He chose the latter and blinked at the other kid for a moment before jerking himself into action with a roar of outrage.

_He's playing a damn game with me. Crud, how'd I ever not notice the fact that he's FREAKIN' INSANE!?_ Wally stumbled as he rounded the corner. Zack was retreating down another alley. Using some rather colorful language, Wally darted after him. It wasn't until he heard the hum of electrical wires that he even realized the direction they were going.

Wally stopped dead, and glanced up with a mixture of surprise. _How the...hell..._Wally thought, glancing around. They were in his old neighborhood. Near his old HOUSE. Wally shuddered at the thought of stepping forward. Zack kicked in the window and shot an evil grin over his shoulder. The window to Wally's old home.

"Coincidence?" Wally mumbled out loud, suddenly unwilling to travel any farther. But Zack was dangerous, and people could be living in that house now. Wally ran forward and knocked on the door. No answer. Feeling a little nervous he opened it up. The door's creak was terribly loud in the silence. "Shit."

It reminded him too much of that one time. Wally wanted to turn around and run. Like hell he'd go back in this place. Nobody was living here. He could tell that much now. The teen took a hasty step back. Zack's voice called from somewhere in the depths of the house, "What's the matter Walls? You scared?"

"Eff-you." Wally yelled back, furious. "Ya don't know whoy Ah don't wanna go in there and Ah'm not tellin' ya. Ya're the one whose scared! Face me dammit! Runnin' away loike a coward."

"Not running, but playing." Zack's yelled reply made Wally shudder. "Like cat and mouse Wally. Only, you're the kind of mouse that's stupid enough to try and chase the cat. We'll see where it gets you."

"Ah'm callin' the cops." Wally snapped, "They'll pick up-"

'_They gonna clean up your looks--With all the lies and the books--To make a citizen outta you--Because they sleep with a gun--And Keep an eye on ya son--So they can watch all the things you do!_' Some music started to play from deep within the bowels of the house. In the eerie silence the metal rock song sounded lonely and empty in the home. _'Because the drugs never work--They gonna give you a smirk--Cause they got methods to keepin' you clean--They gonna rip up yo' heads--Your aspirations to shreds--Another cog in the murder machine..."_

Wally grit his teeth and slid inside. The teen stood poised in the doorway for a moment, overwhelmed by memories of his parents. Not good ones, he never saw good ones. Only the blood. _'They said all teenagers scare the livin' shit outta me--They can care less--As long as someone'll bleed--So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose--Maybe they'll leave you alone--But not me'_

There was the fireplace. Wally's mom had once kept a vase with a koala on it. Hadn't he broken it once? Sheesh, for some reason that was kind of hard to remember. _'The boys and girls in the clique--The awful names that they stick--Ya never gonna fit in much kid--But if you're troubled and hurt--What you got under your shirt--Will make them pay for the things that they did'_

_'They said all teenagers scare the livin' shit outta me--They can care less as long as someone'll bleed--So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose--Maybe they'll leave you alone--But not me!--Wooooah yeah'_ The lyrics ended for a moment as Wally made his way up the stairs. A guitar played in the background, as he reached the first room and opened the door he spotted Zack leaning against the wall. No furniture was anywhere in the house, but this had been Joey's room.

He suddenly vividly remembered finding Joey in here, smelling bad. Something had been wrong about that. Wally shut his eyes against the memories. _'They said all teenagers scare the livin' shit outta me--They can care less as long as someone'll bleed-" _Zack pressed his finger down on the player. Wally blinked, realizing that all the other boy had been using was a simple cd player, a small stereo. It was the only object in the room besides them.

"So, was it hard?" Zack said, tilting his head to one side and smiling a very disturbing smile, "To come back to the place where I slaughtered your parents?"

_**

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**_

_**AAAND END SCENE!**_

_**YES! I am EVIL aren't I!? Major Cliffie! MUAHAHAHA!! **_

_**I could be about a million times worse and dump this fic for a month or so...**_

_**But I like you guys, so I won't do that. **_

_**Still, I shall continue Muahahahaing for all I'm worth! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!**_

_**Reviews much appreciated as always! :3**_


	15. Fight for Life

_Disclaimer;_

_Only own my own characters and the plot._

_**Sorry, sorry, sorry guys!**_

_**I know I dropped the ball on this...it's just that I started feeling really sick lately...**_

_**I could hardly manage to go to school, and through that I managed a few updates for the Shattered but by the time I got home I was honestly about ready to tip over.**_

_**I still feel sick now but...eh. Didn't wanna make ya wait anymore.**_

_**Oh my gosh! One entire page of reviews was taken up for just one chapter! I'm so happy! :3**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- I'm sorry. XP And for the wait too...hopefully it'll be that much sweeter for it...**_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- -hides in shame-**_

_**super ario- Nah, twasn't a coincidence. You just reminded me that they existed...**_

_**tyleetty- Wasn't it? That was my intention :3 Zack's psychotic, he has fun doing creepy things.**_

_**wolfdog127- Yes Wally, R U N!**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- He'll certainly try...**_

_**Laurie43- Tis okay! Zack did something like that because...well, he'll explain it for ya in this chapter!**_

_**faithnmanga3- Simon's codename? Erm...umm...Numbuh...-pulls random number out of hat- One hundred and seventy-eight...XP**_

_**iplaytheflute89- Go Wally go! I root for him too. XP**_

_**imasmurf93- Zack does need a good butt-kicking...**_

_**sstoons3425- Indeed it is! Pay attention! Lawlz, just kidding...**_

_**Suki-chan14- Awz, it doesn't matter how much you say it it's awesome every time. I like it that someone loves this... :3**_

_**Simpering- I do, it's not even done being tied up! UWAH! **_

_**Numbuh 321- HA! Got that number right the first time this time. -gloats- Ermies...DID Zack know him? Hmmmm...**_

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_Chapter Fifteen- Fight For Life_

Wally had figured out that shock had a way of being very different depending on the situation you were in. When he found his parents had been murdered he'd been in so much shock that he didn't even notice it. When he met Kuki he had been shocked by the fact that she looked familiar, that had felt like a jolt. When he'd been hit by the car it had been the numbing shock of somebody in pain.

This was like someone had poured cold water over his head. He shuddered as the mental droplets poured over his shoulders. His hands felt cold. His mouth felt dry. His heart pounded with a mixture of disbelief and fear. Oh yes, fear. Because he'd have to be completely, totally, and utterly stupid to not be afraid facing a murderer. Sure he could be dumb, but he wasn't THAT dumb.

"Wh-what?" Wally choked out, hating the way his surprise made Zack's mouth twist into a sneer. Scorn flashed in the boy's eyes as he leaned languidly against the wall. Wally noticed for the first time that he was holding a gun. That should have been the FIRST thing he saw, but even now he was having a hard time processing what that meant. "What?"

"You're just as stupid as always Beatles." Zack scoffed, "Some things never change I suppose..."

"Ya're lyin." Wally snarled, stepping into the room. Zack arched an eyebrow at him and lifted the muzzle of the gun in a small gesture that Wally hardly registered. He took another step and watched as Zack shook his head as though watching somebody do something very stupid. "Ya're lyin' and ya're a dick. Ah'll tear ya face off just for sayin' that."

"I'm not lying dumb-ass." Zack snarled looking over Wally's head and smiling. "I killed your parents kid. Don't you freakin' get it? Do you wanna know the best part? The reason I killed them? It was all your fault. It was cause you were a jackass in school. What goes around comes around Wally."

"Ya...ya killed mah parents...because ya didn't loike the way Ah acted." Wally said. The words seemed somehow farfetched. He didn't want to believe it. Couldn't believe that he'd been speaking calmly with the murderer of his mother and father for nearly a month now. The teen tightened his hands into fists.

"No shit Sherlock." Zack said, giving him a lazy smile. "It was terribly fun Wally. Did you know that you're father went mad when he saw your mom dead? Just started wailing over and over. Then he got real quiet, and he kept murmuring that he knew the reason they called it heartbreak. Do you know why your daddy thought they called it heartbreak? Because he said it felt as if everytime he breathed in the shards of his heart were stabbing at his lungs..."

"DAMN YOU!" Wally screamed, flinging himself from sheer shock to violence so quickly that it left him reeling. The boy exploded from his spot on the floor and slammed into Zack. His opponent grunted in surprise and Wally whipped his hand back and slammed his fist into Zack's nose. Blood gushed, and Wally relished in the feel of breaking bone.

"Dumb-ass." Zack snarled, and the butt of the gun slammed into Wally's temple. Wally's legs buckled of their own accord and he struggled to stay concious as Zack moved around him. Blood was pouring down the psycho's face, and when he smiled his teeth glinted in the half-dark. "You need to let me finish Wally. I'll kill you in due time."

Wally swore violently at him and lifted his head. His vision flickered a little but if he remained still for long enough it would go back into place. The Australian took to tracking Zack with his green eyes as the boy paced back and forth in front of him. Zack was wiping his mouth and grumbling furiously under his breath.

"You broke my nose I think. Prick." Zack rubbed his neck and grimaced before casting a look at him and smiling widely. "I don't know how to explain you're childhood to you Wally. It's too bad I didn't let your friends revive your memories, things would have been so much better that way. See I've been waiting for you, and if it wasn't for Jonathon I would have gotten to you sooner."

"What...the hell are ya talkin' about?" Wally snapped. Zack snorted and placed the muzzle of the pistol against Wally's chin. The Australian snarled furiously, almost like an animal and Zack laughed.

"You won't get it, that's the downside to you not remembering. You see if it wasn't for the fact that Jonathon made you look like a traitor you wouldn't have been kicked out of your little club. You would have kept your memories and probably would have found a way to stay here. I would have gotten to kill you much, much sooner. That was my intention but...well it just worked to Jonathon's advantage that you had practically the same codenames. Numbuh Zero-Four...hmm..." Zack grinned evilly, "It's funny how neglectful that little group can get. If you vanish off the face of the planet they stop looking for you after awhile. I'm proud to say that I'm one of the few who has never been decommissioned...of course you don't understand any of this since you WERE decomissioned."

"Ya're not makin' any sense." Wally snapped, feeling his frustration grow. The boy staggered to his feet and watched as Zack slunk away. Wally struggled to control his temper. If he attacked Zack he'd just get himself killed...but what was the point in NOT attacking him since he was clearly going to die here anyways? "Basically ya've just convinced meh that ya're psychotic."

"Oh? Thank you. It can be quite fun, being mad." Zack grinned so widely that it seemed his face would split in two. The blood that dripped onto his shirt from his nose made the whole scene that much more grotesque. He aimed the gun for Wally's stomach and grinned, "Did you know that getting gutshot is a terribly painful way to die? See I'm considering that, but I'm also considering just knocking you out. Then dragging you back to the basement and forcing you to watch as I shoot your pretty little Asian friend in the face. Such a shame, she has a lovely smile. I wonder if it'll be just as pretty with her teeth all over the wall? Hahahaha!"

"Dammit, ya touch her and it won't matteh if ya kill meh. Ah'll haunt ya, Ah'll foind a way even in death ta make ya suffer." Wally snarled furiously. Zack only laughed so hard that he had to bend over. Wally took a step forward, knowing the boy was too distracted to notice.

"You've just condemned her with that. Don't you get it you dipshit? I've been waiting YEARS for this! Everything, all of this, it's because of YOU Wally. I would have probably let D.J. and Samuel off the hook you know, I already knew she was dating Maes. Not much can get by me...and I would have handled Todd as well. But you know what? I could TELL even when everyone else couldn't that you'd become friends with them. They made rather useful pawns, don't you think?" Zack giggled a high-pitched giggle, "And Morton! You really care for that brat, don't you?"

Wally flung himself at Zack again. The teen yelped as both boys went down. It was a whirlwind of fists and feet. Wally wasn't sure if he was even hitting the psycho. There was one point when they sprang apart and Wally's fists slammed into Zack's stomach. One, two, three times. The other guy doubled over and wheezed in agony. As Wally aimed a kick at Zack's head Zack ducked and swiped him off his feet. As Wally hastily scrambled back into a standing position the crack of the gun split through the air.

Wally cried out and pitched forward, clutching his shoulder. It felt as if something burning had torn it's way on a destructive path through his muscle and bone. His entire arm siezed up in a cramp and it took a moment for him to clutch his hand a few times. Blood stained his hoodie. "Dammit..."

"Sorry, I know it's your favorite." Zack purred. He lifted the gun so that it was level with Wally's chest, "Just know this, Wallabee Beatles, when I'm finished with you all your friends are going down. I'll make sure they know that this entire mess was all your fault."

Suddenly, just before Zack's finger could close on the trigger, a blur burst from the shadows. A high-pitched chattering filled the room and Zack screamed in a mixture of rage, surprise, and agony as needle sharp teeth dug deep into his hand. Wally watched in amazement as he reared back waving his hand wildly in an attempt to dislodge the ferret that had sprang from the shadows.

The gun clattered to the ground and slid off into the shadows. Wally got to his feet as Zack grabbed Krigare around the neck. There was a sickening snap, and he tossed the ferret's broken body harshly onto the ground. It lay there completely limp and Zack spit on it.

Just as Zack turned around Wally kicked him in the face. Zack went down and made a strangled cry of rage. Wally felt a strange calm descend on him. It was like a clear fury that settled over him as he pushed Zack down again. His left fist grabbed a handful of Zack's shirt, and the other slammed over and over again into the side of his head.

Zack reared his head back and slammed it against Wally's. The Australian fell back, blinking away stars. Zack grabbed him by the back of his sweatshirt, and with a mighty heave tossed him at the window. Glass shattered around him and dug painfully into his skin as he plummeted to the ground one story below.

He landed on his feet and rolled, just in time to get jumped on by Zack. The teen grunted at the impact and felt Zack's hands close around his neck. His head felt like it was swelling with pressure, he couldn't breathe. Wally struggled to move but he was pinned beneathe Zack. A red haze began to cover his vision.

_I'm going to die..._He thought, as his lungs screamed for air. It was so unfair that he was dying now. Now when he'd figured out that life was worth living. Now when he'd figured out he had something to protect. What a shame. What a terrible shame. That same calm still settled around him as his attempts at breaking Zack's hold on his neck grew weaker. _I just wish...that I could have told that girl...Kuki...there is such a thing as love at first sight..._

Then his brain couldn't sustain the loss of oxygen.

* * *

_**Kuki**_

Kuki watched quietly as Todd's eyes flew open. The teen groaned with agony, and Maes heaved a sigh of intense relief as the boy rolled off of him. She continued her silent staring as Maes quickly untied Todd, and watched as Todd ran up the stairs and called 911.

Then he came down and began untying everyone else. It was sheer luck that he untied Kuki first, and as soon as the bonds were gone she was running up the stairs. "Where are you goin' girl?" Abby snapped, looking at her furiously, "Wait for the police."

She couldn't explain it. Kuki never would be able to. It was just that she felt that Wally was in terrible danger. That she would be the only one who could possibly save him. Kuki looked back helplessly and for the first time in her life she ignored her leader's direct orders. She ran out of the house.

_I don't even know where to go._ She thought. Yet part of her did, with that same sureness that she needed to leave that house in the first place. Kuki would find them at Wally's house. At the place where Wally's parents had been killed. Zack was certainly twisted enough to pull something like that.

So the pretty girl found herself running down the street towards her childhood friend's home. She stopped nervously outside the gate. It seemed so forboding, and the darkness that was around her was so complete. She glanced at the sky. Clouds had covered the stars. A storm was coming.

Kuki pushed open the door, and tipped her head to the side. Thuds came from one of the rooms upstairs. Kuki clutched her hand in front of her heart. Was that where Wally was? What the heck was she supposed to do now? It hadn't exactly been smart to come here in the first place. Didn't Zack have a gun?

The sound of a gunshot tore through the house and Kuki screamed in surprise. She clamped her hands over her mouth and felt her stomach plummet sickeningly when she heard Wally cry out. _Up the stairs!_ She told herself, and even though that psycho had a gun she found herself leaping up the stairs. For Wally.

As her hand reached the doorknob she heard the shattering of glass. Kuki whipped open the door in time to see Zack jump out the window, she blinked in confusion and remained in the doorway for a heartbeat. Why had Zack leaped out the window? That seemed...kind of dangerous...

_What, he's CRAZY it's not like he's exactly thinking like most people._ Kuki thought, and noticed that a gun was on the ground. So Zack was out the window, the gun was on the floor, and so was a ferret...but where was Wally? Kuki picked the gun up. It felt warm, and the handle was sweaty.

_Go downstairs._ It was almost instinctual, and Kuki ran back down the stairs and outside. Lightning split the air. It started to rain very hard and she shivered in the cold. She turned and ran around the corner of the house to see where Zack had jumped out and stared in horror.

There he was, bent over Wally. His hands closed around Wally's neck. Choking him, suffocating him. Kuki's heart thudded in fear. What could she do? What could she do? She found her eyes torn from the scene in front of her to stare dumbly at the pistol in her hand.

What do you do, when somebody is choking the life out of someone you care about? What do you do when they're going to kill somebody you love and you're holding a gun? Kuki's hand trembled and she lifted the gun. Zack looked up as a flash of lightning went off, his eyes widened in surprise and she pulled the trigger.

The gun slammed into her chest. She hadn't expected that somehow, but when Zack's head snapped back with the impact she felt something inside of her tear. She started to scream and found it was very hard to stop.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Wally**_

The sound of screaming was the first thing he registered. The second thing was that his arm hurt like hell, and the third was that he was fighting for his life. The teen jerked into a sitting position, and cried out as his arm siezed up in agony. The teen gripped at his shoulder and watched in fascination as blood leaked between his fingers.

Wally lifted his eyes from his hand to the girl who was screaming. It was Kuki, and she was trembling and shrieking in absolute horror. As soon as his eyes met her's her screams died. She dropped something onto the grass and rushed him. It caught Wally off guard and he fell down as her arms wrapped around him.

"I-I-I thought you were dead..." She sobbed. Kuki shuddered and whimpered something. At first Wally didn't catch it over the falling rain. Then he realized what she was saying, "He's dead. I killed him...oh God..."

"Kooks, calm down." Wally said softly, glancing over her shoulder. Zack was lying there and Wally didn't need to have much of an education to know that he was dead. Even though it hurt like hell he found himself wrapping his arms around Kuki and holding her tightly. "Shhh..."

* * *

_**End of the chapter!**_

_**Poor Krigare...T_T such a faithful little ferret...**_

_**GAAAH! What? Leaving off again?**_

_**Yeah...sorry, I know it's not great but eh...XP**_

_**In case you were confused;**_

_**Zack was after Wally because Wally was a jerk. Zack was twisted and messed up, clearly...**_

_**Jonathon was Numbuh Zero-Four, when he found out about Zack's intentions for Wally he framed Numbuh Four in order to have him decomissioned. Jonathon expected Wally would be moved from Cleveland with no memories or emotional attachments, thus removing him from Zack's radar...**_

_**Later he was decomissioned for the same thing...so when he died he didn't even remember helping Wally...**_

_**What will happen next?**_

_**Bum, bum, buuuum...**_


	16. Fingerprints

_Disclaimer;_

_All I own is the plot and the OC's_

_**You all think the trouble is over don't you?**_

_**-evil cackle- **_

_**Oh no, not by a long shot...**_

_**Okay, so not by a little shot...**_

_**Three or four chapters oughta do it!**_

_**Or maybe two...**_

_**GAH! Stop starin' at me you fools! -flees-**_

_**The address is just random. -.-u**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- XP At least someone'll miss him...**_

_**Simpering- Yeah...I had to have at least ONE of the good guys tip...it was originally Morton who died. **_

_**super ario- Indeed Zack IS a jerk, but he's MY jerk...yeah, Wally COULD be completely insane...**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- Is this soon enough for you? **_

_**Laurie43- Yeah, a little less info but I hope you'll be excited about this chapter too. And the ones coming after it...**_

_**Numbuh 321- We should. Poor Krigare, such a self sacrificing ferret.**_

_**wolfdog127- What happens next? Lies! All lies! -cackles-**_

_**imasmurf93- Thank you, and I'm feeling quite a bit better after having a good rest.**_

_**Suki-chan14- Yeah, as I said I'm feeling better now. The end? Oh the trouble is continuing. -rubs hands together-**_

_**

* * *

**_

_Chapter Sixteen- Fingerprints_

_**Kuki**_

He gently pried the gun from her fingers. Kuki watched as Wally gripped it tightly and looked her in the eye. "Everythin' is okay." Wally said calmly. Strangely calm, Kuki honestly didn't think she could ever remember her friend looking so collected before. How odd that he would be like that right near somebody who was dead. She'd killed that somebody. Kuki whimpered, "Kooks, listen ya saved meh. Thank ya...so much."

Wally winced suddenly, and grabbed at his shoulder which was bleeding heavily. Kuki felt her panic heighten a bit, had she managed to somehow shoot Wally as well? "You're hurt!"

"Yeah..." Wally grimaced a little, "Yeah Ah'm hurt. Zack shot meh..."

_Oh, that's a relief. I don't think I could stand it if I hurt him._ Kuki shuddered and dug through her pockets hastily. She pulled her cell phone out (Really, Zack wasn't all that bright leaving that on them even if they HAD been tied up) and dialed the number. Wally was doing something that she couldn't see and when she peered over his shoulder he gave her a small smile. "What are you doing?"

"Eh? Nuthin'." Wally said, looking as though he most certainly WASN'T doing nothing. Still before Kuki could manage to say something the line picked up and she felt a stab of fear. Her panic enveloped her again and she found that she was sobbing into the phone.

"Ma'am, what is the problem?" It must have been the third time the dispatcher had repeated this and Kuki forced herself to take a breath. Wally needed help. Wally needed help, and somebody was dead.

"There w-was a fight." Kuki breathed, "My friend got shot and...anoth-another person is dead. We n-need an ambulance. He's really hurt, my friend's really hurt."

"Okay ma'am, just stay calm for me alright? What is your name and where are you?" The dispatcher said in the calm way of a professional. Kuki had to slow her breathing before she could even manage to talk again.

"K-Kuki Sanban. I'm at...102 Maple Corner...yeah." Kuki tried to stop her trembling, "I think I-"

Wally leaned forward and snapped the phone shut. Kuki just sat there blinking for a moment before looking at him with her mouth open in shock. "They got the address, it's foine."

"I think you're supposed to stay on the phone with them until they come." Kuki said. Wally just leaned against her heavily and closed his eyes. Kuki tried to focus on him and not Zack. Zack...the person she'd killed. Kuki grabbed for his hand, "I'm sorry he shot you."

"Meh too." Wally said grimly, giving her a tight lipped smile. _He must be in so much pain, but he still looks as if he's focusing more than usual. How odd. _"Why'd ya come? How'd ya know....where we'd be..."

"I don't know." Kuki said truthfully, "I thought that he'd take you...to your house. I'm not sure why Wally, I'm sorry."

"Ya knew where Ah lived?" Wally asked, looking surprised. He snorted and looked down at their hands and sighed sadly, "Ah should hardly be surproised. People know more about mah past than Ah do mahself."

"That's not your fault." Kuki said, hugging him gently. She didn't want to hurt his arm. The Australian tensed up a bit but he relaxed after a moment and she felt like she was going to cry again. "I'm sorry Wally. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

* * *

_**Wally**_

Really what did she have to be sorry for? Wally was confused, but he didn't bother to ask about it. At the moment he was trying to process everything that had happened. It was strange how he could see things with such vivid clarity right now, but still have a hard time figuring out what had gone down.

So they ended up clinging to each other until they heard the sirens. It was both too late and too soon for Wally. The teen grabbed for Kuki's hand a thrill of fear swept through him. Possessiveness too. The Australian shook his head and looked at their hands and marveled at the fact that she was okay with that.

"Ah hardly know ya." He commented dryly, "Ah'm sorry Ah woulda loiked ta get to know ya better Kooks."

"That's the third time you called me that." She said softly, watching the street with fear in her eyes. "I like that Wally. When you call me Kooks, it makes me feel...special. As sappy as that sounds."

"Roight." Wally grunted and looked at her. "Listen Kooks, don' say nothin' about any of this. Ah'll fix it all. Ah'll explain it. Let meh do that for ya for savin' meh got it? Promise meh that ya'll keep ya mouth shut. Promise it Kooks."

"I-I promise." She said, looking bewildered and confused. Wally wondered if he should have done something more than that, but the police were there and he was pulled away from her and put on a stretcher. Which was ridiculous in his opinion, he'd been shot in the arm dammit he could walk perfectly fine.

_**

* * *

**_

Wally wasn't exactly sure WHEN he lost conciousness. He just knew that he must have because he was waking up in a hospital room. The Australian sat up and winced, looking at the bandage on his arm. A nurse that had been standing at the end of the bed squealed in fright at his sudden waking and for a moment Wally thought he'd have to make sure the poor girl didn't topple over.

"Sorry." Wally said, narrowing his green eyes at her. "Do ya know how long Ah've been here?"

"Um..." She shifted her feet, "Eight hours? I think that's it. You just barely got out of surgery sir. He-eeey! You can't get up yet! The doctor, I mean you haven't been...stop moving please!"

"Ah can walk foine." Wally said, shooting her a look of amusement. The poor girl looked ready to argue and ended up helping Wally to his feet just so he didn't end up on the floor. She couldn't have been much older than him. Wally glanced at her and asked, "How do Ah get discharged?"

"I think your parents have to...please don't." She choked as he shuffled for the door. Wally picked up his pace and stopped at the doorway looking slightly embarassed. "Um..."

"Roight, mah clothes?" Wally asked. Reading her name tag he added, "Nina."

"I...you're not supposed to be up." She said nervously, flicking her golden colored gaze passed him and into the hallway. Wally rolled his eyes as she hurried passed him. A moment later she returned with a doctor. Wally was standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his features. "Um...Mr. Beatles is awake."

"Yes, so he is." The doctor said, pushing passed poor Nina who backed away hastily. Wally glared at him stubbornly as he took his blood pressure and asked several irritating questions. Finally the man leaned back and said, "Alright, Nina go grab him his clothing. We'll let him change and then we'll drive him down to the station."

* * *

"Are you in trouble?" Nina asked as they pulled up to the police station. She would be staying with Wally to keep an eye on him, and the young girl looked incredibly nervous. Wally didn't answer and she began to wring her hands as she looked out the window sadly, "I hope not. You're not a bad person."

_Oi, seems like everyone wants to be Wally's friend._ Wally thought, rolling his green eyes and scowling. Nina had to help him out of the car and as they walked up the stairs he spotted Maes leaning against the wall in the waiting room. All eyes turned to him with looks of relief. D.J., Samuel, Natasha, Todd, Charlotte, Fanny, Raymond, Hoagie, Abby, and Kuki were all there as well.

"Nobody has been in yet." Maes said after a moment of silence stretched between them. Nina waved timidly and started to fiddle with the hem of her scrubs. Maes was his usual self and completely ignored her, "They want to talk to you first."

"So ya gouys have been here for eight hours? Sorry." Wally grimaced a little at the narrowed eyes of the group that sat around the room. Fanny actually flipped him off, which Wally could only assume was because she could be with that Simon guy. "So...do ya gouys know what's happened?"

"Peter was arrested at the scene." Samuel said, absent-mindedly running his fingers through Natasha's hair. "They picked Jared up at Tasha's house and he's been put into custody. Zack...well you know what happened to him, don't you? We haven't gotten the details but we know that...well..."

"He's dead?" D.J. snapped, looking irritable, "Serves him right for locking people up in the basement like a freakin' psycho. Don't shush me Maes! I know where the hell I am and it's not going to change the fact that I speak my mind dammit!"

"Mr. Beatles?" A man said, standing in the doorway, "You're wanted in the interrogation room. Your...erm...what exactly are you girl? They said you had to go in with him."

"I'm a nurse's assistant." Nina said, looking nervous but slightly irritated. "I have to be with him because he just got out of the hospital. Dr. Hanson told me that since you guys couldn't possibly wait he'd let it go. Your fault, not mine."

"Your a civilian though..." the man muttered and opened the door. It was a small room and Wally was surprised to see Phil sitting in a steel chair with his arms crossed over his chest. The man's eyes lit up with relief at the sight of Wally, but instantly darkened. Wally grimaced and sat in the chair nervously. Nina was told to wait outside, she could watch out for Wally through the mirror.

"Just loike a telivision show." Wally said nervously. They didn't tell you how cold the room was in those shows. It wasn't a comfortable place by any means. Wally shuddered, and glanced at Phil out of the corner of his eye. He wished the man wasn't there. It would make things all that much more hard.

"Alright son." One of the officers said, sitting in the chair. Wally felt a little sick to his stomach, "I'm sorry we had to take you from the hospital like that. How are you feeling?"

"Foine." Wally said curtly. Phil glanced over at him nervously. The whole room felt as if it were crackling with electricity, and when the door opened it sounded incredibly loud. Wally's stomach heaved a little, even though he'd been expecting this. The Australian closed his eyes and focused on listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

_I can hardly believe I'm doing this...for somebody I just met._ Wally almost laughed out loud, and looked up when something was thrown onto the table. Phil physically flinched away from it, which annoyed Wally a little. It wasn't as if they'd toss a loaded gun onto the table like that. They weren't stupid. Wally glanced at the plastic wrapped gun and lifted his eyes to the officer. He knew that every ounce of his defiance would be flickering there.

"Can you tell me why your fingerprints are all over this gun, son?" The officer asked, narrowing his eyes at Wally. The teen found himself stuck for a moment. Between laughing with relief and slamming his forehead into the wall. So everything had worked. For once he had managed to think something through, and it had paid off...sorta.

_Why are my fingerprints on the gun?_ Wally thought, thinking of the moment in the rain where Kuki had almost noticed what he had been doing. That moment when he had wiped the gun clean using his sweatshirt and wrapped his own hand tightly around the weapon. _I put them there. Cause there is no way in hell I'm letting somebody like Kuki go to trial for a murder...go to jail for murder._

"Ah...killed Zack." Wally said. Phil stiffened considerably at his side and then turned around so fast that he almost fell out of his chair. Wally kept his eyes on the officer's, knowing that he had to put everything he could into getting that man to believe that he had done this crime. Him. Not Kuki. "Ah shot him."

"You..." The man seemed taken aback for a moment. Wally wondered what that girl Nina was doing. Could SHE tell he was lying? Wally hoped not. He hoped that he looked unapproachable enough to commit murder. Phil believed it, but then Phil wouldn't have ever imagined Wally to be smart enough to figure out a plan like this. Wally hardly believed he'd managed it himself.

Wally was handcuffed then. It was kind of amusing that they waited until he'd actually said something. One would think that the fingerprints would have been proof enough to get a warrant. He only half-listened to his rights, and then he found himself sitting in front of the officer's once more. This time with his hands in metal cuffs.

"Alright boy, tell me what happened." The officer said seriously. Wally smirked into his sweatshirt, which was tattered and bloodstained. Funny how it went from "son" to "boy" after he confessed to killing somebody.

"Not until there is a lawyer present." Phil said, "Wally don't say anything else."

"That's fine, we've got to interrogate the others. They'll be witnesses." The officer said, though he sounded as though it certainly wasn't fine. Wally just shrugged his shoulders and pulled himself to his feet. He was extremely aware of the fact that one of the officer's put their hand heavily on his uninjured shoulder.

They made the walk into the hallway and Wally couldn't help but glance at Nina. The nurse's assistant opened her mouth to say something before letting out a little squeak and looking down. Was she afraid? Wally couldn't tell. That kind of bothered him though, he didn't like the idea of being a scary person.

He winced slightly as he walked to the opposite end of the hallway. He wouldn't look up and see his friends. No way in hell.

_**

* * *

**_

_**Kuki**_

"Where are they taking him?" Kuki said, standing up abruptly. The little group of people continued down the hall and Wally just stared ahead of him as though determined not to look her way. Kuki looked around desperate for somebody who would know something, "What happened?"

"Your friend confessed." The girl named Nina whispered, looking even more anxious than before. Kuki blinked in confusion as the girl slapped her hands over her mouth and said quickly, "I'm sorry, I don't think I'm supposed to say anything."

"Confessed to WHAT?" Samuel said, "Did he kill Zack? Oh shit he did didn't he? But it was self defense right? It'll be okay. Right D.J.? If it was self defense then he'll get off right? They can't blame him for killing somebody who was attacking him."

_But Wally didn't kill Zack, I did._ Kuki thought. "There's been a mistake." Kuki said, grabbing for an officer's arm and startling the man. He jumped and then relaxed when he realized who it was. "There's been a terrible mistake. Wally didn't kill anybody, it was-"

"His fingerprints were all over the gun." The man said, then looked at her gently, "Look sweetheart, he's getting a lawyer. Everything will be okay as long as he's cooperative. I know that that Zack kid did awful things to you guys but...it was no call for killing him. Murder is murder."

"He locked us up in a damn basement." D.J. snarled, standing up and tightening her fingers into a fist. Kuki was stuck on the fact that Wally's fingerprints were on the gun. If they had his fingerprints on file didn't that mean he committed a crime once? What about the fact that his fingerprints were ON the gun.

"No, he took it away from me." Kuki explained desperately, "I shot Zack. I did, not Wally."

"His were the only prints on the gun." The man looked irritated now, and he made Kuki let go of him. "Don't try and take the wrap for him alright? You'll just end up making things worse."

"But-" Kuki was cut off when D.J. shoved passed her. The officer glared at the girl as D.J. stuck her tongue out at him and led Kuki away. Kuki sat down next to Abby and stared at the floor. _Wally's in trouble and it's all my fault...___

* * *

_**WHA!? Wally framed himself!**_

_**That's right! He didn't want Kuki to go to jail or have to face a trial...**_

_**Which would be inevitable in the event of somebody getting killed.**_

_**So what will happen NOW? **_


	17. Epilogue

_Disclaimer;_

_Chars are mostly mine, but those that aren't aren't._

_**GRAWR!**_

_**I'm sorry.**_

_**I ran into a wall and it stayed that way.**_

_**I mean I had writer's block for this. This is the ELEVENTH rewrite of this. ELEVENTH!!**_

_**It's not great, but I'm going to put it up anyways. Why?**_

_**Because I'm sick of rewriting this. **_

_**If I missed somebody with the reviews I'm sorry, my page is screwed up...**_

_**Simpeh- The law is indeed trivial...**_

_**Suki-chan14- Ack, now I'm scared this is going to be a disappointment. I hope you like the epilogue, sorry for the wait...**_

_**GonardWithTheTDL- Awz, poor Cop. He's just doin' his job.**_

_**super ario- -.-u Ermies...there's only one. Don't shoot me. I'm sorry, I just...hit the biggest wall of writer's block with this in the world.**_

_**sstoons3425- Yay! Go lawyer person go! -cheers Chris on-**_

_**Dinosaurs R Dead- -hides under chair and hands sorry excuse for epilogue to you-**_

_**wolfdog127- Swear words...0.o**_

_**imasmurf93- I know right? I love him. :3**_

_**XxBloodsbanexX- Lawl...no, they aren't unreasonable. (That's the last you ever see of em' actually hehehe) I'm sorry this is going to suck. -heaves tired sigh-**_

_**Laurie43- Except I made it not far from over. -.-u**_

_**Numbuh321- I hope you like it. Answering the reviews is making me all depressed and worried that it's the worst thing I've ever written. -nervous laugh-**_

_**Lemony Anemone- Firstly, thanks for your reviews. Ermies, I'll answer the last one mostly though. I did that because realistically there would have been a trial no matter what, in the event that somebody is killed there is ALWAYS a trial. At least, if they have the person nearby who did it. Though I don't think Wally would know the law any better as a person in a gang than he usually would...**_

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_Epilogue_

_**Wally**_

He lifted his green gaze from the floor when he heard the bars clang open. The teen smirked a little at the sight of the young man in a suit, with dark brown eyes and neat black hair. He didn't seem to be all that old really. For some reason Wally had been expecting a lawyer to be older than that somehow. "Wallabee? I'm Christopher Stone. You may call me Chris if you like."

"Hoi." Wally said, lifting his hand in a wave. How surreal, greeting somebody in a jail cell. His lawyer of all things. "Ah'm Wally though. Mah Mum was the only one who could call me Wallabee..."

"Alright then." Chris said, leaning against the bars. "Let me ask you several things first off Wally. Please cooperate with me, I need you to do as much so I can figure out what we're dealing with. First, did they read you your rights before you...'confessed' to your crime?"

As Chris said the word 'confessed' he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. Wally struggled to remember the interrogation room, and shook his head slightly. "Ah wasn't arrested. Ah went in an' told em' of mah own free will what happened. That's all, end of story."

"Do you know why you're in this cell? Did they even clarify that for you?" Chris asked, taking a pen out and scribbling several notes on a piece of paper. Wally wondered what he was writing on there. The teen got up to peek but before he could see the lawyer's sharp eyes were on his, "Wally?"

"Oh..." Wally said, realizing he'd forgotten the question. The teen rubbed the back of his head as Chris repeated himself and Wally blinked in confusion, "Ah...killed a person. They told me the charge but Ah wasn't paying any attention."

"Wally you're being detained and charged for tampering with evidence and contaminating a crime scene. Do you know what that means Wally?" Chris said. Wally was beginning to think he didn't like Chris as much as he initially thought. He often felt a little slower than people, but this guy made him feel like he had absolutely no brain at all. Wally shook his head, "It means that you didn't kill Zackari Parker but you tried to make it look like you did."

"But-" Wally broke off as Chris glanced up at him. Those brown eyes narrowed with so much somber seriousness that it surprised the youth.

"Your story doesn't match up with any of the other witnesses, especially Miss Sanban's. In fact, she's confessed to killing Zackari, but she's pleading that she did it for the sake of another person's safety, as well as her own." Chris said solemnly, "She even said she thought that you were hiding something from her, which was your tampering with the murder weapon."

"It wasn't murder." Wally snarled, and then realized that he technically just agreed that Kuki had killed Zack. The teen shut his mouth as Chris arched an eyebrow at him. Wally's eyes flashed.

"There are two things we can do Wally. The first is something that I think you definitely won't go for. But I should suggest it anyways." Chris closed his eyes and sighed, "The first thing you could do is to say that Miss Sanban forced you to make it look as though you were the murderer. Of course that would be as good as tossing her in a prison cell..."

"No." Wally said flatly. Chris didn't look surprised, merely glanced away from the youth.

"The second is that we can tell the whole story and hope that the jury will take pity on you and the girl you love." Chris said, "It's not much of a tactic, but it's the best I can do. I will be representing Miss Sanban in this case as well. In the meantime you are to be kept here until your trial. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

* * *

_**several hours later**_

Wally blinked in surprise as she stepped into the room. Abby crossed the room in three strides and slapped him hard. The officer blanched and stuttered out several frantic things but Wally found himself staring levelly into the brown eyes of Abigail Lincoln. "Ow."

"You damn idiot." She growled, trembling furiously. "You know that you've probably made more trouble than good with this don't you?"

Wally winced. Yeah, he'd figured that out. If he hadn't messed with the evidence the trial would have been pretty cut and dry. Sure, Kuki would have had to face one but it was pretty clear it wasn't murder...until Wally had gone and messed things up by rubbing the gun clean. "Unfortunately...how...is Simon?"

"Simon? He's in the hospital now." Abby said curtly. Wally looked up at her, his mind churning. The familiarity of that group of people, not Simon but the other's as well. He tilted his head to one side.

"Ah...knew you when Ah was a kid didn't Ah? Kuki knew where Ah lived..." Wally said, and he sighed, "Seein' ya gouys makes meh feel loike Ah'm forgettin' somethin' important. So Ah knew ya...roight?"

"Yeah, you knew us." Abby said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I won't tell you how. I can't, but I can tell you this Wally. I can get you out of this. A get out of jail free card. I know people. It would require you laying low for a few years, not going into hiding persay but staying out of touch of the people from this precinct that would recognize you. I offered it to Kuki but..."

"There's a catch." Wally said.

"I can only help one of you. Every...person with my particular occupation gets this. In my line of work you never know what could happen, and it's always nice to be able to pull them out of a nasty situation. But I can only do it one person at a time, until it's renewed next year. By then things would be too complicated for me to help." Abby frowned.

"What the hell are ya gouys, freakin' spoies?" Wally said, he couldn't help himself. Abby chuckled, shaking her head from side to side. Wally stared down at his hands and sighed, "Nah. If Kooks can't take it then...Ah'll be good. Ah won't let mahself leave after Ah screwed things up."

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_**Two Months Later**_

_**Destiny-Jane**_

"Stand still." She ordered, straightening Morton's bowtie. He looked rather cute in his little suit, but D.J. felt a spark of nervousness. This was her third testimony this month. The first two being against Peter and Jared.

One hundred and twenty years to life...her brother's charge. D.J. could honestly say that she was furious with him for helping Zack. For merely standing by as that sick bastard tried to kill their little brother but...to condemn your own sibling. There had to be better things people could face in their lives.

"Damn." Abby's voice startled D.J. from her reverie, the dark skinned girl was walking from the courtroom and shaking her head miserably. "Abby hates this, they should have taken their get out of jail free card when I gave them the chance."

"Todd needed it more than me anyways." Kuki said, startling D.J. again. She was beginning to wonder if she should ask the caramel skinned girl what she was talking about when Kuki turned to her. "The court's in recess for a bit, but when we go back in you're on. Can you do this D.J.?"

"Answer questions? Sure. Now doing it in a civil way..." D.J. trailed off to stare off in the distance. Finally she turned and gave Kuki a half-smile. Attempting at humor, "So how's your boyfriend?"

She flushed, but looked more hurt than anything. "He hasn't really been talking to me lately."

"Idiot." D.J. said, and then some man from inside the courtroom yelled something. D.J. patted Morton on the head and danced into the room. The girl glanced over at Wally who was staring down at his hands. _Sheesh, I hope they aint basing any of this off of his looks. The word 'guilty' is practically stamped on his damn forehead._

Scanning the jury she could see a wide range of people. Her judgement of character hardly ever failed and...D.J. smirked. She was certain that whatever lawyer Wally and Kuki had was getting these people to eat out of his hand. Maybe after she served her brief sentence she could try and become a lawyer. It might be a slightly amusing job. No...a wicked grin crossed her features. A prosecutor would be fun.

She swore to tell the truth, though she kind of wanted to ask them what they did with people who weren't Christian. Did they really care if they were swearing on a Bible? Was it a Bible she swore on anyways or was it some big law book. Now it was gone. D.J. frowned feeling a little bored, but still incredibly nervous.

* * *

_**Wally**_

"All rise." The man said in a solemn tone. Wally stood up feeling like he was going to be sick to his stomach. If Kuki went to jail for murder because he messed with the evidence he'd never forgive himself. The teen shut his eyes against a wave of nasuea. Why? Why the hell did he have to be so damned stupid? "We the Jury find the defendant, Kuki Sanban...not guilty."

He felt weak with relief. Even if he went to jail now he wouldn't care. Wally shut his eyes against the wave of relief he felt. He hardly heard when the man continued. "We the Jury find Wallabee Beatles...not guilty."

"Eh?" Wally said, not expecting this in the least. The youth lifted his head and looked over at Chris who had a satisfied smile on his face. _Oi, he had better be satisfied. How much is this guy gonna cost me..._

Not that he was complaining. A moment ago he was thinking of his future in a prison with a felony to be forever stamped on his permanent record. It seemed like everything had a happy ending.

_**

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_**Two Weeks Later**_

"I can't believe you freakin' punched me." Collin griped, making Wally snort a little. Of all the things for Collin to latch onto about that weak, it had to be the fact that he socked him in the jaw. He was considering doing it again when the bell rang at the door. Wally blinked, and glanced at Collin who shrugged his shoulders and snorted furiously. "Don't look at me like that you little prick. I thought it was locked up too."

"For you kid." Phil said, grabbing the boxes Wally had been carrying and waddling off. The man looked over his shoulder and said with a very serious look on his face, "Don't dodge too much kid, you deserve what's coming and I don't want you messing up the wall in this place."

"Uh..." Wally said, ducking out of the backroom. A fist collided with his jaw and the teen was sent flying back into a rack of bottles. Wally blinked, for some reason he had been thinking Phil hadn't exactly been...well, serious. The teen turned to face his assailant only to stagger in surprise, "K-Kuki!?"

"MORON!" She screamed, leaping up and lashing a vicious kick out at his head. Wally ducked and his eyes widened. _Holy CRAP!_ He thought, thinking the girl had gone completely insane. He hadn't seen her since the case, and he couldn't think of what he could have possibly done to bring THIS on.

"What the-!" Wally ducked under a swift uppercut. Something he learned the hard way: Kuki Sanban knows karate. "--HELL Kuki what're ya talkin' about!? Ah didn't do nothing to ya!"

"IDIOT!" She screamed, Wally decided that he didn't like being attacked by somebody he refused to fight. Who would have thought that somebody as sweet as her had such a vicious temper? Mmm, something told him that was one of the things he forgot about their past. How inconvenient. She caught him by the front of his shirt and glared, "You moron! How could you do that?"

"Do WHAT?" Wally wailed, looking and feeling incredibly childish at the moment. Really all he had to do was stand up, he was taller than Kuki. Still for some reason he couldn't get his feet under him.

"Try and frame yourself you idiot!" Kuki snapped, violet eyes glittering with outrage and passion. "You tried to give up your FREEDOM and you...you don't even remember me..."

Silence stretched between them. Wally felt suddenly incredibly uncomfortable. The teen wondered if he should walk away. What do you do when somebody starts crying over the fact that you forgot her? Especially when you don't exactly remember HOW you forgot but you know that it's kind of not your fault?

"Kiss her you idiot." Phil called down from the stairs, making both of them flush bright red. "Well? I'm not going to look or anything. Just get on with it. People have been waiting."

"Ah..." Wally blanched, and decided that...well Phil was usually right. Wally leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against Kuki's. He was tackled by her the next instant, and they both collided to the ground. Wally wheezed as she hugged him so tightly that he didn't think he'd ever be able to breathe.

"AWWW, it's so cute." Natasha said loudly, alerting the two to the prescence of not only the raven haired girl, but everybody else as well. D.J. under Maes's arm. Raymond, grinning like an idiot. Todd, carrying Charlotte in a piggy back ride. Abby and Hoagie, who were smiling with amusement. Morton who was covering his eyes and complaining. Simon, who was leaning against Fanny with a casual arm across her shoulders, and Samuel who rapped his knuckles on Wally's head.

"Do we need to give you two the talk?" Samuel queried with a slightly evil grin. Wally swatted his hand away and the group laughed. Wally smiled. It was strange, how they were an unlikely group of friends. Yet they were all tied together now because of that one incident. They were all friends now. Hopefully he wouldn't forget them.

_**x..THE END..x**___

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_**Done!**_

_**Over!**_

_**Finished!**_

_**I'm so glad. -sighs-**_

_**I'm sorry, the ending really was...kind of poo.**_

_**Except the karate part. I came up with that because Ran off of Detective Conan is kick butt with her karate...**_

_**And I decided it would be freakin' amazing if Kuki knew it too. It had nothing to do with the fact that she's Japanese -.-u**_

_**That's what my sister said.**_

_**She called me racist! I was like "Heeeey, that's not what my intention was..."**_

_**...**_

_**...**_

_**I wish I knew karate...**_

_**Reviews much appreciated. Tah!**_


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